Something like That

[QUIRKY TEA !]

The pack had accepted him. That was interesting. Danny thought for sure that he'd be one of those desperate loners who would heal strangers and chat away all friendly-like just so he could pass the time. Now, instead, he could pass the time making a fool of himself. Oy-vey.

Socially, he had the grace of a wingless duck. The astringent scent of the laboratory still clung to his fur. He hadn't yet settled in long enough to fully become a dog of the island. Fresh off the boat. The other dogs just knew him as an outsider. Outsiders came in sometimes. Mainland dogs. All were a bit funny, but most adjusted well. Danny worried about his adjustment.

The hilly meadow felt too soft and earthy for his paws that were used to linoleum and metal. He remembered that rubbery astroturf under his feet. Nature was funny. Curious, but he wasn't used to it yet. His survival skills training had occurred in an obviously artificial forest. It smelled somewhat like the way the island smelled, but the scents paled in comparison to the rich paintings that the island gave him.

He had basically joined the first pack he stumbled upon. His resume had pegged him as overqualified. The survival training, for all its fakeness, amounted to one of the most in-depth walkthroughs of healing plants and practices. The trial and error that the dogs were schooled in, he learned through the humans. There was no uncertainty for Danny. He was a gifted healer and that made him easily slip into a respectable rank. Not a leadership one, but the mixed breed probably wouldn't know what to do with such power. As a Healer, he knew what to do.

And, in the moment, it was gathering the first aid herbs. They would be used the most, in any case. He had accumulated a fine store of moss from the forest, already moved into his healers den at the pack's denning site. Now, he was searching for some natural pain-killers and things to reduce swelling and fever.

Dots of orange caught his eyes. Danny sprinted toward the small patch of marigolds. He picked a few flowers, which he would dry, make a small poultice with water and other herbs later, for when dogs came in injured. The flower was precious to aid in the prevention of infection. Picking the flowers carefully, as to ensure that the plants lived after he had harvested them, he set them on the ground, to count them. His soul, a creature that came soon after he arrived on the island was watching him curiously. She arrived before he joined the pack and he ignored her for the most part, mostly because he didn't understand her use.

"Danny," she said, breaking the silence.

The dog glanced up, his blue eyes intense against his dark coat. "What? Karen, is it?"

The water chevrotain sighed. "Yes, Karen." She moved toward him, her head low to the ground, as is the natural carriage of her species. "You ought to go into the pack, make friends. They can help you adjust, you know." She knew of his internal fears, that he couldn't become a true part of the pack, just some dog that was in it who did the healing.

Danny snorted as he tossed the Mar. "What are you supposed to be: My conscious?"

Karen smiled. "Something like that."

[NeverLand]

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[atrb=background,http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq95/amanda1472/raya4.png] Rayalen walked along the path between the trees. She wasn't far from twin hills, and she was out to get some sunshine today. Her life had been very...shady lately. She had barely left the safety of the forest in days. It would be nice to get some fresh air, and...smell the flowers...as people often told her. As she neared the end of the trees Scrap jumped down onto her back. The black squirrel's tiny claws digging in for a moment to keep from slipping off. She didn't mind."Do we really have to go out of the forest? You know I feel best when there are trees around!"

[/i][/color]

Raya rolled her eyes, but couldn't keep a slight chuckle from escaping. "You're a squirrel. If you were comfortable in open air I would be concerned. But don't worry, I won't let any stray eagles eat you. Besides, most of the raptors around here are souls, and you know souls don't eat other souls." Scrap sighed and she grinned in victory. She loved it when she was right.

Then the shadows of the trees disappeared and she was greated by sunlight. She squinted her eyes for a moment and glanced up, momentarily wondering why she had wanted to get some sun. She was breifly thinking of going back to camp when a sound caught her ears. What WAS that? The guardian in her tensed as she narrowed her eyes, scanning the hills for the threat. When she saw what it was her eyes narrowed even more. It was the newbie. She still didn't trust him completely. Perhaps it was the overprotective part of her coming out, but she couldn't help but be suspicious of the dog from the mainland. She didn't understand why the two leggers would just drop off a random dog for no apparent reason. Maybe he was spy. Or maybe she was just imagining things. None the less, she'd been told to be friendly to the new comer, so she walked foward, ears forward as she approached, and offered up her best smile. She tried to force herself to relax, telling herself he wasn't a threat, but she only partially succeeded. "You must be Danny. I've heard a lot about you. I am Bohale Guard Rayalen."

She added her title so he would know who he was talking to. She didn't want him to be afraid of her, certainly not, but surely he wouldn't try anything stupid. It's always hard to tell with newbies, and you can never be too carefull. Rule number Six.

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;;words:: 423
;;player:: NeverLand
;;notes:: ....
;;credits:: Template made by Stella with a few twists by me.
;;Lyrics:: Over You - Miranda Lambert

[QUIRKY TEA !]

Danny was, at the moment, trying to tune out the water chevrotain. He never had his soul outside of him before, able to talk to him, but was annoyed that it was some water mouse-deer thing. A female water mouse-deer thing. He wondered why, out of all the things that could have represented him, it just had to be Karen. The chevrotain glanced up and saw that a dog was approaching. Danny was so engrossed with the issue of his soul being there and the fact that he was gathering herbs, it was easy for Rayalen to sneak up on him. Karen smiled brightly.

"And what, pray tell, are you grinning that stupid grin about?" Danny said in a huff. Rayalen was a larger dog than the medium sized mixed breed was. Her thick fur added to the visual mass of her. When she spoke, he nearly jumped out of his skin. "For god sakes," Danny grumbled. He was a misanthrope and did not fit in at all with the other dogs here. But he had showed a lot of knowledge about the healing arts and that was the reason he was accepted into the pack in the first place, not for his social skills.

He turned toward the older female, his blue eyes wearing a bored expression, and then a confused one when she fully introduced herself. Did that mean she was higher ranked than he was? He wasn't sure because back in the laboratory, ranks didn't matter. What mattered were the experiments, the training, and the people. More so than the dogs. Should this island suddenly become a human settlement, then he could be in the running to become an Alpha.

Karen moved closer to Danny, now that he was paying attention to Rayalen and not her. She felt like the dog who she belonged to should ask questions and get answers about the whole soul thing. "Reciprocate," she whispered to the dog, cuing him to speak in turn to Rayalen. Hm, well, perhaps souls are rather useful, thought Danny. Karen smiled smugly. Crap, can she hear my thoughts?

"Uh, well, I am Bohlale Healer Danny," he said stiffly, attempting to follow the Guard's example. Karen sighed and shook her head. Really, Danny was a lost cause, social-wise. He was just as suspicious as Rayalen must have been because he said, "What've you heard about me anyways?" He narrowed his eyes. Definitely a lost cause.

It was more that he was worried that he was unwelcome in this pack. That somehow, he failed in the first few days of being accepted into this pack. Despite his knowledge and intelligent, he really was lost.

[NeverLand]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true] [atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,500,true]

[atrb=background,http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq95/amanda1472/raya4.png][style=background-color: #927f75; opacity: .38; color: black; padding: 0px 0px; text-align: justify; border-radius: 0px; font: 12px Times New Roman; margin: 0px 0px 0px;] Rayalen chuckled as the dog introduced himself. Poor thing was way out of his element. But he was trying and she liked him for that immediately. And he didn't back down, even though she knew that she could be intimidating sometimes. She liked him even more for that. She allowed herself to sit, Scrap ran up and sat on her head instead of nearly falling off of her now vertical back. Rayalen bowed her head for a second before raising it back up."It is nice to meet you Danny." She allowed a smile, which was almost more smirk than smile, to tug at her lips before she returned to the stern look she always wore. What had she heard? She hesitated a moment, trying to remember exactly what she had heard. She didn't usually remember specifics, but when someone asked what was said about them, she always tried to be as accurate as possible. This girl doesn't sugar coat anything. She shrugged, "Not much. Just that you are from the main land, and know some about healing." Honestly, she couldn't be happier that the dog had shown up in that respect. The pack was seriously low on healers, and it was about time they got one of good quality. And he had to be of good quality, otherwise the two leggeds wouldn't have sent him. They never sent slackers. The new dogs were the two legged's way of making sure we survived. Rayalen was ever greatful to them on that respect. She couldn't have her pack dying because of a measly infection. She was a guard, and even if she couldn't protect them from something like that, if they all got sick and died she would still feel like a failure. And even on the less dramatic scale, she remembered the days where there had been good healers. Any scratch she got fending off the random bear was immediately taken care of. She couldn't count the recent times she'd gotten beat up a little on the job and had to heal herself. She smirked again, and allowed some humor to slip out before the stern face returned. "If that's true then it's about time you showed up."

;;words:: 367 ;;player:: NeverLand ;;notes:: .... ;;credits:: Template made by Stella with a few twists by me. ;;Lyrics:: Over You - Miranda Lambert

[QUIRKY TEA !]

Danny looked suspiciously at Rayalen. He didn't fully trust her, but then again, he didn't fully trust anybody. "Uh-huh," was his skeptic reply to both her remark that it was nice to meet him and the so-called "gossip" she had shared—which in his opinion lacked any substance. Details, he wanted details and specifics, but apparently either she didn't care about what other dogs talked about in regards to him or she was hiding something. After drawing the moment out just a little with his intense, blue gaze, he decided to give Rayalen the benefit of the doubt. She seemed the type of dog to be above saying stuff about another's back anyways.

Karen smiled her approval when Danny glanced her way. Can you read my thoughts? he asked in his head, trying to somehow project the message to the water chevrotain. The striped and spotted creature stood there, nonchalant, and it was impossible to tell if she really couldn't hear his thoughts or was ignoring him out of spite.

He didn't like the whole notion of having a soul. It was weird and stupid, in his opinion. Rayalen's roundabout compliment, "It's about time you showed up," refocused Danny toward her again. He didn't realize that it wasn't supposed to be insulting. "Well, sorry for being late," Danny said in a huff. Socialization was a mystery to him yet and he thrived on literal and direct sentences.

Karen sighed as he turned around. She looked to Rayalen. "He's like a lost pup, really. Dumped here and doesn't have a clue how to survive, not really." The reddish-brown creature glanced toward Danny. "Hardly knows what to do with me, too."

He disengaged, going back to his work. He wondered if he was ever going to find his place in his pack. Not just his rank, his rank was Healer and considering his skills, that was a given. He wanted a place in this family of dogs. He was still an outsider and his complete lack of social competence had him sometimes push away dogs that were open to accepting him. He trotted to the flowers he collected, but then heard a rattling sound.

Interesting.

He was intensely curious. His blue eyes focused, his ears were pricked forward. The rattling continued. His ears rotated, triangulating where the source was. Danny turned toward where the sound was coming from. The scent was something he never smelled before. Reptilian. His curiosity was piqued. He needed to discover what was making that sound.

He didn't know that it belonged to a rattlesnake. That kind of thing, they didn't cover in survival training.

[NeverLand]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,500,true]

[atrb=background,http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq95/amanda1472/raya4.png][style=background-color: #927f75; opacity: .38; color: black; padding: 0px 0px; text-align: justify; border-radius: 0px; font: 12px Times New Roman; margin: 0px 0px 0px;] She could have laughed when he responded to her previous statement. She sighed though instead. Poor guy, couldn't tell when someone was messing with him. She was about to apologize for offending him when he abruptly turned and went on with what ever it was he was doing before she'd found him. Being a healer, she assumed he was gathering herbs. His soul started speaking and she lowered her head as she watched the dog sniff around for more herbs. She nodded her head at the soul's words. She had been in a similar situation before. She had faith in the dog."Don't worry, he is still adjusting to his surroundings. He will learn. But I'll see you around ok?" She nodded to the soul, and glanced at Danny once more before standing up and turning. She took two steps and was about to say something to Scrap about the new dog, when she paused, tilting her head the oh too familiar feeling gripped her gut. She thought of leaving anyway, but something was wrong, she could feel it. Rule number Four. She turned immediately back to the male who was still sniffing around. Then she heard it, and her eyes widened. "Danny? Stay where you are." Either the dog didn't hear her or he was ignoring her, because he was still moving, and he was moving towards the dangerous sound. He had no idea what it was. She shook Scrap off of her, giving him that silent glare that always meant stay put, and looked back at Danny. Then she took off. She could see the snake coiled up on the other side of the grass form where he was. She ran towards it at full speed, her stride eating up the ground as she moved ever closer towards the dangerous reptile. As Danny got closer to the snake, it rose to striking position. She only had a few seconds to get there. Three. Danny was too close. She wouldn't make it. Two. The snake seemed to bunch it's muscles together, prepared to spring the moment Danny's nose moved through those grasses. One. The snake sailed through the air, the rattling noise silenced. Rayalen slammed into the other dog, just as the snake reached him. The impact of her body had him rolling across the ground, but he wouldn't be hurt. She looked around quickly for the snake. It hadn't gotten Danny, that much she knew, but where had it gone? She heard the rattle and turned around just in time to see it launch through the air again. She darted to the left, but she was too slow and the snake's teeth clamped down on her fore leg. She yelped as the fangs dug in, and she reached down, and jerked the snake, yanking it from her leg and probably breaking it's jaw in the process. Then she gave a ferocious shake of her head, heard the snake's back pop in several places, and through it onto the ground, stomping on it several times to insure it was dead and wouldn't be coming back for revenge. She stopped stomping and glared at the creature that lay motionless in the dirt. Yep. It was dead. Good. Now to check on Danny. She turned and walked over to the dog, limping slightly to avoid putting weight on the injured leg. It wasn't bleeding too bad, but she knew she only had a few minutes before the poison started to take it's toll. She was already feeling a little light headed, but she had to make sure her charge was safe. "Are you alright? Did it get you?" Scrap didn't waste anymore time, but came running across the field and jumped onto Raya's back. Fussing at her for taking such a dangerous risk."Raya don't you DARE scare me like that again! I thought you were gonna be snake food! I -"

[/i][/color] He paused when he finally saw her favoring her paw, and if it had been possible he would have paled. As it was he sat there on top of her, completely silent for a moment, then let loose again. Fussing at her so much she couldn't understand because, like a squirrel, all of his words jumbled together. Or maybe the poison was beginning to work. Everything was getting blurry and she decided to lay down before she fell. Didn't want to look weak to the new comer.

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;;words:: 736
;;player:: NeverLand
;;notes:: ....
;;credits:: Template made by Stella with a few twists by me.
;;Lyrics:: Over You - Miranda Lambert
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[QUIRKY TEA !]

Danny was focused on his own mission. Rayalen's warning fell on deaf ears. Karen didn't understand the danger either, but was alerted to it because of the Belgian Shepherd's rising fear in the situation. The water chevrotain could smell the adrenaline in the air.

The Alaskan husky nosed his way through the grass, nearing the rattlesnake, attracted by the sound rather than warned by it. His naivete knew no bounds. And now, it was up to Rayalen to make sure that Bohlale's new healer didn't end up as a disfigured mess—if he survived the venomous bite. The snake was bunched up, its muscles tense, ready to strike. And it did, but in that moment, that flash of a moment, Rayalen pushed Danny out of the way, knocking him across the grass, scattering his herbs. He landed on his side somehow. His shoulder was sore from breaking his fall, but mostly it was his pride that was injured. He was getting up during the entire time Rayalen destroyed the snake. "What's the big idea?" Danny said as soon as he got up to his feet.

Karen shook her head. "Danny..." she said, sotto voce.

"What is it now!" Danny said with a growl. His soul was annoying him. And he felt like, perhaps, he'd never be able to prove himself to the pack. To show that he could have friends and could end up as a beloved member.

She indicated Rayalen with a small motion of her head. When Danny turned to look, he noticed Rayalen, limping. Her leg had started to swell and it looked awkward the way she held it up, trying to keep it safe from touching the ground, putting her weight on it, which would cause unbearable pain. The injury reminded Danny of a photograph. He saw the reference in his head, visually remembering it double-exposed upon Rayalen's injury and it was a perfect match.

"Snakebite. Rattlesnake." Danny gave the immediate diagnosis, identifying the species by the symptoms. His voice spurred his thought process onward. He remembered a plant, something enhanced that the dogs can use to counteract the effect of a snakebite. "I need to find snakeroot." It wasn't hard to find. He remembered being trained to search for it in his survival training, a musky odor on the leaves.

He was highly competent. Immediately, he raised his head, sifting through the scents on the wind. His tracking training from the laboratory helped immensely. The aroma he was looking for reached him, now it was the issue of pinpointing where it was. He was practiced. He knew to mentally compensate for wind, recent precipitation, as well as the age of the scent. Danny's movements were direct and efficient as he made a beeline toward the location of the snakeroot.

While rattlesnakes were not always lethal, he needed to hurry or else the venom coursing through Rayalen's veins do too much damage that she'd have to lose that leg. No, he wasn't going to allow that. He would save her leg in the same way that she saved him. He started sprinting, the speed of the dogs in his pedigree becoming apparent.

Snakeroot was a plant that had woody stems. The triangular, serrated leaves and simple, clustered, fluffy flowers indicated that this was it. It grew in the tall grasses, hiding, but Danny pulled the plant, roots and all. The dirt clods fell from the unassuming plants, its roots in the air.

Back with Rayalen, Karen watched the wound slowly get worse. The bite wound had started bleeding. "This time, he knows what he's doing," Karen said reassuringly. She looked up, feeling Danny coming before she saw him coming.

He ran at his top speed, and stopped on a dime near Rayalen. Karen moved away to give him space. He placed the herb on the ground near his packmate. He stripped the leaves quickly, tearing the flowers off until there was just the stem and roots. Then he started chewing on the woody stem. He spat it back out on Rayalen's snakebite. The cure wouldn't be instant, but this way, the venom would stop progressing, start to get better. She'd need other herbs to help her on recovery. The entire process, he remained calm. This was his element. He knew what to do and supposed that now he didn't owe Rayalen anymore.

"Don't get up, yet," he said, sternly. "At least you aren't losing that leg." He gestured toward her leg, covered in green slop, swollen to twice its size, and the blood in her fur. "It'll stop looking like hell once I'm done with it," he promised.

[NeverLand]

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[atrb=background,http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq95/amanda1472/raya4.png] Rayalen barely heard him. Her head was spinning. Whether it was from the snake bite or the fear for her life suddenly causing adrenaline to shoot through her veins she didn't know. She had to calm her self down though. This much adrenaline in her system would cause the venom to spread much more rapidly than without, and then she really would die. She barked at her soul. "Scrap! I need your help." She could barely talk, but Scrap knew what to do. He climbed on top of her head, and started petting her and running his claws through the thick fur around her ears. That always worked. Well, usually. The whole time he spoke calming words to her. He wanted to be fussing at her for making such a dangerous move, but he knew she'd done the right thing. It was her job to protect the pack and its members from danger. ALL danger. That included ridiculous rattlesnakes. He continued talking to her. Telling her how proud he was of her, and how much the pack needed her. And about how much she meant to him. Then he felt her start to relax. Usually that was a good thing, but she couldn't fall asleep. Not now. She jumped off of her head and punched her nose with his bunched up paw. It wouldn't hurt her, at all. But it would wake her up. "Hey! Don't you give up on me now! What's rule Number Two??"

[/i][/color] She looked away and didn't answer. "Come on! You made these rules, you know what they are. What's rule number two!?"[/i][/color]

She released a heavy breath, and closed her eyes. He was about to punch her again when she spoke, barely above a whisper. "Never screw over your partner." He nodded excitedly, petting her nose. "That's right, and what will you be doing if you give up now?"[/i][/color] Another heavy sigh. "Screwing over my partner." Another nod from Scrap. He had to keep her talking. "Right. Now, who is your partner?"[/i][/color] She thought for a minute. He'd never seen her this disoriented. Even after Kabel had died she'd been able to answer these questions without hesitation. "You?" He breathed a sigh of relief. He was about to bombard her with other questions when the sound of a canine fast approaching reached his ears. "Oh thank God."[/i][/color]

He scampered out of the way and climbed back onto her head as the dog approached. He watched with awe as he did his work, chewing the plant and placing it on Raya's wound. Scrap lay down, his head very near Raya's ear. He hoped she would be alright. He couldn't live without her. Literally. If she died then there was nothing tieing him to this world so he would vanish as well. When he spoke Scrap nodded his appreciation. Raya lifted her eyes to look at him, not completely capable of lifting her head. She couldn't tell she'd never been poisoned before. She could handle almost any physical wound. She'd been mauled by giant cats, and lived to tell about it. She'd jumped off of waterfalls in her youth, and she had fought off numerous dogs in pack fights, not that they had had one in a while. But when it came to poisonous beasts she'd never dealt with one before. She suspected half of the reason she was so disoriented was the shock. Not of what had happened. No, that didn't bother her, she had figured it would happen at sometime or another, but that she'd been so clumsy. She'd practically invited that snake to bite her. Her eyes stared off into space, but she spoke to Danny. "Thank you."

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;;words:: 612
;;player:: NeverLand
;;notes:: lol, sorry if I'm overdoing it a little bit lol like I said, I love to bring my charrie's pain. I don't really know why. Guess I'm masochistic.
;;credits:: Template made by Stella with a few twists by me.
;;Lyrics:: Over You - Miranda Lambert
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[QUIRKY TEA !]

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Danny said. He didn't like all this graciousness afforded to him—Rayalen thanking him. He didn't like to be thought of as a hero because he wasn't one. He was just doing a job that he knew. The dogs didn't truly accept him into the pack yet. He was different. He didn't understand how to be a dog and it was his stupidity in the first place that got Rayalen in this mess in the first place. Well, at least he knew now what it meant when he heard the warning of a rattlesnake. Before, he didn't even know what it sounded like. But now he did. Perhaps he would consider that he owned Rayalen even after he finished his work and got her back onto her feet. For now, he needed to make her comfortable. "I'll get something for the pain and swelling."

Karen was watching Danny. She knew some of what he was doing, but mostly the flow of it, not the actual knowledge. She moved with him, connected to the feeling of what was next. She followed closely, but never got in his way. However, when Danny left again, she stayed with the dog.

"Have you ever been bitten by a snake before?" asked Karen. She looked at the wound. It looked terrible. Danny had chewed the snakeroot and it made a light green and watery paste on her fur. Already drying, the fur stood up, sticky with the plaster. Poison was worse than a physical wound. It affected the way the nerves fired, the way the blood flowed, and the way the brain thought. Karen knew this and she saw the way that Rayalen took it in stride. Strong, stoic. Her soul keeping her focused on the single task of living. She was shy to speak to him, but admired the bond that they had. If only she and Danny were close. Jealousy had a habit of coming up at the worse times and it made Karen feel guilty.

Meanwhile, Danny was locating some common plants. He was going to mix herbs, make a healing poultice that he'd stick between the snakebite and the leaf of a stinging nettle to try to bring down the swelling and perhaps get Rayalen walking again, albeit three legged until her leg was back to normal, so that she could rest at the pack's denning area. He collected goldenrod and horsetail with his marigolds and found the plant of a stinging nettle, carrying the spiny plant in the center of his bundle so that he wouldn't be pricked by its tiny needles.

"I'm back," Danny announced. He sat himself next to Rayalen. His expression was unreadable: both focused and nonchalant. As if he was afraid that she would think less of him if he cared too much about her. He stripped the leaves off of the plants, chewed on them and then spit the paste carefully onto the stinging nettle leaf. The water chevrotain hovered over her dog's work, but seemed to move as he moved, getting out of the way so that she didn't disturb his work. It was as if they had done this dance many times before. Perhaps they had—she was within him when he was a dog of the mainland. She knew his practice.

Danny pressed the leaf against the snakebite. "This will hurt a lot soon, but then it'll be soothing," he said. "It will save your leg from permanent disfigurement." Most dogs, even if the snakebite didn't kill them, left them with useless limbs, tender paws, wounds eaten away by infection. Not so under Danny. He lacked the street-smarts of a feral dog, but more than made up for it with his education.

"You'll put in a good word for me, won't you?" Danny missed scritches behind his ears. He missed knowing his place in a social aspect. Sure, his job was healing, but he didn't know if the other dogs accepted him past that. He was awkward with social conventions. And yet, he felt that he was trying. He was trying so hard.

Karen looked up at Danny. She knew how much he wanted this. How much he cared. He hated looking desperate. Or like he needed someone else to tell him that he did well. There was no uncertainty in his actions. There was simply what he knew and what he didn't know. And the water chevrotain felt lucky that this was her dog. Even if he didn't accept her yet, she felt lucky that this was her dog. She felt pride over his work. The swelling was already going down.

[NeverLand]

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[atrb=background,http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq95/amanda1472/raya4.png][style=background-color: #927f75; opacity: .38; color: black; padding: 0px 0px; text-align: justify; border-radius: 0px; font: 12px Times New Roman; margin: 0px 0px 0px;] Rayalen barely noticed as the dog left again. She almost didn't notice his soul talking to her either, except Scrap nudged her cheek forcing her to pay attention. She shook her head in an attempt to clear it. "What? Oh, no. No I haven't." Thank goodness, she thought to her self. If this had happened to her with out a pack healer she'd be dead. Or severely limited to what she could do to protect her pack. Normally when an animal bigger than a rodent was bit by a snake they lost use of whatever had been bitten. In her case, her leg. She couldn't allow that. Scrap climbed on top of her head to speak to the soul. "That's right! It's her first snake bite! But she's been bitten by all sorts of other things! Other big predators especially! She's survived all sorts of brawls! She's -"

[/i][/color] "Scrap! Not the time."

He scrambled down off of her head and stood beside her again. "Right! Sor-"[/i][/color] Her glare cut off his sentence. Right. Number one. "Right."[/i][/color]

She sighed as the sound of a dog fast approaching reached her ears. Danny was back. Now he was putting something else on her leg. It would hurt? She sighed. Pain she could handle. What she couldn't handle was this...this fog. It was like she was in a dense fog. She couldn't concentrate, and she couldn't focus. Then the pain hit. He was right, it did hurt. It hurt more than when the cougar had nearly taken her ear off. It hurt more than when Kabel had died at that waterfall. Wait, no, that wasn't a physical hurt. She shook her head again. It hurt so bad. But like the good warrior she was she lowered her head to the ground and beared it. She didn't even grunt. She wasn't the type to complain. Instead she tried to focus on the dog beside her.

What was his name? Oh, right, Danny. She wondered where he came from, what his life was like before he came here. What were the two leggers like? She'd always wondered about them. Apparently they knew a lot about stuff in order to have been able to teach him how to be a healer. She wondered if he was popular where he came from. Here he had no social standing because he was a stranger, she wondered if things had been different where he came from. What if he'd been an alpha? Or something like it. She wondered it what it would be like going from being the top of the food chain to the bottom in less than the time it took for the sun to move across the sky. She couldn't imagine it.

He asked his question. She almost didn't hear it as she tried to ignore the pain. Good word? She nodded, not trusting her voice to speak at the moment. She glanced at Scrap, who stood watching her nervously. Then she shut her eyes, trying to force the pain to go away. After several minutes it finally did, although not because she wished it to. Then it felt....soothing. Just as he had said it would. She gave a heavy sigh and opened her eyes once more. Finding her voice finally she looked up at the dog. "I wont need to after this. They will hear about it and that's all they will need. You will be acknowledged, I promise you that."



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;;words:: 571
;;player:: NeverLand
;;notes:: ....
;;credits:: Template made by Stella with a few twists by me.
;;Lyrics:: Over You - Miranda Lambert
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