An ear? They harbored a look of disbelief for a moment. The leaf was rather large, far larger than her ear or even Avreya's ear. What in the world would need an ear so big? Did they have really bad hearing and were compensating? Nope. Theng leaned out seemingly like they might touch the edges of the elephant ear leaf when the twisting of their body caused a pain to run down their leg. They lightly hissed and recoiled back to a comfortable position while flattening their ears against their dark skull. ... my bad. And then they mellowed quite quickly, grumbling away the last bit of the sharp fiery pain. Can't do that just yet, their skin didn't like being stretched so. Must be big things if that's what their ears look like. Or they look really dopey. And silently they looked firmly on @Avreya. There was no outright question but a hopeful curious look in their eyes, settled behind the bit of tiredness and world worn nature that came with being a child on thier own. Theng without words begged the Rainforest woman to continue and tell them more about these things called elephants.

Theng recoils, hisses, and Avreya tenses in return, watching the other carefully. As soon as the other seems okay to continue, offering a more controlled my bad she nods and carries on.

Ear flicks with mild amusement at the youth's wonderment and curious questions. She remembers the first time she'd seen an elephant, on an outing beyond the mountains and into the plains. Gargantuan creatures, wise and powerful and beautiful in their strength and intelligence. She glances up to catch the eagerness in Theng's gaze. She feels a soft pang of sympathy. Avreya recognizes the same eager glimmer in Theng as she'd seen in Conrad when they'd talked about the wildlife of the Rainforest to him -- children forced to grow up too soon, but always yearning for that spark of what they'd lost.

"They are big, bigger than any other creature I've seen," she says, pausing in her work on the poultice. "And the ears do make them look a little dopey. They also have a long nose. It's kind of like another arm." Having never had to explain an elephant before, she realizes it must sound absolutely freakish. "They're dangerous, though," she's sure to warn, just in case Theng ever recognizes one from her instruction and doesn't just waltz up to one cluelessly.

She nods to the crushed plant upon the leaves. "Eat some of this. The plant it's made of, it's called akuamma. It will help with the pain." In a gesture of faith -- one she's done with every stranger she's healed, from Kimagure to Ismae -- she takes a little herself and eats it. Avreya's not a very trusting creature, so she recognizes the dubiousness of eating herbs from a stranger.

( +10 Heal a character’s sickness or injury [2/2]
+5 Teach someone under 2 years about healing [2/2]
+5 Teach herbology trivia to someone [2/2] )

Big. @Avreya's woven description of the beast began to form pictures inside of Theng's imagination. As was often the case what they began to envision was not entirely accurate. Their elephant's ears were more akin to bird wings, long enough to catch in the wind and drag on the ground below their feet like a leaf dipping and blowing in the wind. And that nose. Their magenta eyes briefly flickered wide and then skinny for a moment of scrutiny before they determined Avreya was not lieing about that. Freakish indeed. What's the arm- nose- for? They asked as their mental 'elephant' began to use its arm nose to lift up rocks and then to help it climb a tree. Thick, round muscles easily able to drag huge amounts of weight.

Theng takes the offered paste from Avreya and leans in to give it a light sniff and recoiled back while blowing out from their nose. Interesting. It hadn't smelt horrible but not like they expected.... not like a flower which was what they associated as a 'plant' smell those being the most pungent of plant odors. But, with Avreya trying a bit of it too Theng was satisfied that this wasn't anything harmful. They take a little on the tip of their tongue and with two good laps ingest the paste. You didn't have to help me you know.

Avreya purses her lips in thought. "They -- grab things with it. Food, water," she says slowly, trying to visualize the memory of watching an elephant graze. Finally, she shakes her head. "I think you will have to find one someday to see it. They are strange creatures, beyond imagination." Avreya's not a very visually imaginative creature -- she can draft battle plans in her head all day, but she struggles to imagine the details she's missing.

She watches the youth as they take the paste. The Firnen lioness offers an approving nod, though their eyes seek to lock with Theng's at the question. She pauses, considering the words. "You're right, I didn't," she says with an even intonation, a curt statement of fact, reflecting little emotion onto it. Avreya didn't need to, so why did she? She hadn't hesitated.

Broad shoulder raises in a soft shrug. "But I could, so I did." The Rurik have historically not meddled in the affairs of others -- it's why she didn't pry further on the source of the injury, even if perhaps she might wish she did later -- but she'd had the herbs on hand and resources to do so. The young lion somewhat reminds her of Conrad, in a way.

She stares at Theng. Appraises their form. While she thinks of offering them shelter in the Rainforest, she doesn't seek to suggest it -- if they're anything like Conrad, they'll benefit more from it being their idea. Or, they'll move on, continue to hopefully learn and grow and take care of themselves (and, hopefully, care more for any future wounds). Either way, she stoops to gather the remainder of the akuamma, signaling her preparation to depart.

Grabbing things with their nose. It sounded crazy when @Avreya put it that way. But Theng supposed that made some sense. If elephants were like lions and walked on all four limbs then it would be particularly helpful to have something more to manipulate their world with. Yeah... yeah... Theng nodded to themself in agreement with their own inner thoughts. They still had no idea what an elephant might really look like but at least the arm-nose thing made some sense to them. Still sounded really dopey looking though. Dumpy even. Big ears, arm-nose. Sounds like a creature I'll know when I see it. And so someday they would. And someday hopefully this weird image of an elephant in their mind could be rectified and refined into the truth. It was nice though, Theng had to admit, to have something to "work" towards even if it was an inconsequential goal and one they had little control over. It would be a treat in the future, and they could look forward to it in the meantime.That was a strange luxury for the orphan.

As was Avreya's answer. To do something, to help because you could. It was an expense of resources, of time and energy. For Theng that might mean they didn't have the time to find food that evening or their shelter was less than ideal. Every second, every scrap that they got their paws around was precious and for them. Avreya did this because they could... And that's it? It looked like the woman was getting ready to leave so Theng had to make sure of one thing... ... I don't owe you? Lets lay the expectations down on the table. If Theng would get out of this without owing a debt it would be a cherry on top.