Leila's stomach turned as she rounded a large trunk, licking her whiskers. She had come here to find a small stash of prey - abiding by the hunter's rule of spreading out hidden things. The tigress had indeed found it, dug it up and had a little pre-hunt meal. But something about that had been bad and even her strong stomach was feeling unhappy.

With a grimace she slowed to a halt. Had she really caught that bird that long ago? Or had something else gotten to it and turned it bad. It hadn't smelt bad, but apparently scents could be misleading. With her brow pinched in displeasure, she suffered another wave of nausea. Mm, that was definitely getting worse.

- possible xp for any medics, all welcome!

art © rabbit

THESE VEINS OF HALLOWED HAUNTS
there wasn't a lot of useful medicine that could be found in the summertime. all that were useful - the aids for fevers and coughs, a cure to easy sleeping - seldom grew here. halla took to the far reaches of aniadar for her collection, small as it was, but after much prodding amongst the underbrushes, she could only find spare roots from akuamma berries. what else there ought to be was stripped clean, as if whoever did so had done it with haste.

none of the gnetum bushes were here since the last time hanne showed her. even the ones with harmful properties - the peppers and the crabwoods - vanished. thus, the child moved on, eager to find something for the little pouch she fashioned. dried mud caked to her belly began falling off as she moved swiftly through the dense hallway. there was much to be aware of, even more now that halla's far away from her den site. she disallowed herself from venturing too far, and as soon as the clearing grew wide and sunny, she would steer back. hanne explained the outsiders would see her better if she found herself in such a place, that they would seek to take her back with them to their prides. what hanne never told halla about, however, was the sight of a very large cat. halla paused, fur puffing up as every muscle in her pulled taut. such a thing, sculpted from the very rays of light that halla strayed from, looked much too unfamiliar for the child. but, she was also curious. would halla burn if she touched it? without hesitation, the child stalked closer, keeping her belly low to the ground, ready at will to steer clear if the cat moved. and, with all the impudence of a wild thing, halla attempted to pounce. @Leila

Too distracted was she to realise she had company in the form of a midnight-toned youth. Leila had half a mind to plop down in a bit of mottled shade and sleep off the belly cramps - knowing not to risk such long-buried prey next time. As she considered this, narrowed eyes upon the sunlit grass and soft ferns, a prickle ran up her spine. Was she just being paranoid, or did it feel like there were lurking eyes, pinned on her striped back.

Leila realised late, seeing a flash of dark colour in the corner of her eye and leaping paws. Flight instinct kicked in and she snarled as she was pounced upon, feeling the contact of outstretched paws. She twisted on her toes to try leap free from the unexpected surprise, rising clear off the ground in her frightened leap.

It had been a cub, she realised after she had dropped to the earth in a shaken crouch and gotten a good look. A little one, but not a very young one. A lion cub. Leila splayed her ears uncertainly, tail swishing anxiously through the leaf-litter. “You scared me so bad!” she admonished, feebly. Her tummy hurt. “You shouldn’t go around pouncing on strangers, cub.” Someone bigger and meaner than her might not be so hesitant to punish.

@Halla

art © rabbit

THESE VEINS OF HALLOWED HAUNTS
fierce glee was only outmatched by the grin on her face, as wild and vicious as the fire kindling in halla's chest. the cat was no prey, but in halla's relentless imagination, she could well be a victim already. here, lions reigned, as she was told by her old mentor. so even other cats like this one would be at the bottom. but, once her minor victory was over, she was quick to step back, knowing she had made her mark. the giddiness from before quietly dissipated into the lingering question of 'what now?'. halla had only pounced because she was curious whether this cat would burn her like the sun. she never planned for what'll happen afterward, when that lingering question was answered. a word that she heard from hanne, enough to know how to use it, spilled out of her mouth sorry. even still, the child's stoic face showed no signs of remorse. i find berries, good plants for you an even exchange for the scare the cat endured. that should pacify her so halla wouldn't be bad. and, it would also allow halla to do what she always loved to do. here, she noticed several bushes and plants that held berries familiar to her - including gnetums that she wanted to find. gnetums, good for you, gnetums, no ache, no bites. halla mumbled to herself, eyes keeping themselves glued onto the bright berries as she moved towards them. @Leila

Doleful, wary eyes lingered on the child. Leila was half-convinced should she glance away the girl would try another leap. Her apology had come quickly, but hadn't sounded particularly remorseful. At least to Leila's perception.

"Don't do it again." She growled without true bite, tail coiling by her ankles. Leila didn't like telling anybody off, let alone someone's kid. It made her feel bad, and didn't think it was really her place. But she would because she was feeling short of patience today and it didn't appear anyone else was going to. Speaking of...

"You aren't by yourself, are you?" Leila checked uncertainly. The last thing she'd want to be was abruptly responsible for this random cub's safety - she so far seemed unchaperoned and her size made it hard to tell how old she was exactly. Leila chewed her lip contemplatively, cringing as a wave of belly ache reminded her of her mistake of a meal.

Brown eyes lifted from the dirt at the girl's mention of... something unfamiliar. Following her gaze she realised @Halla was talking about a bush of red berries. Heistant but undeniably intrigued by what she claimed they could do, she craned her neck after the cub. "Like... for a tummy ache? They'd help?" she asked, tentative and supsicious but curious.

art © rabbit

THESE VEINS OF HALLOWED HAUNTS
she was alone, even when hanne was still here, but she was sheltered. the canopies and towering trees were her roof and walls, the jungle floor her bedding; she knew each and every grassy hall, where they went and where they stopped, and of the sky above, which stars to follow and which to simply observe. no one but herself knew of halla's relationship with this land, for they were always the people from outside stepping in, careless and temporary.

mother, here halla spoke, but if she had the capabilities, she would've made sure the cat knew that ulla lived in her mind, her voice the other half of a whole that had saved her. alone good. she made sure her face was steel and ice, so like the face she imagined her northern-born mother would have if worn. briefly, halla noticed the way @Leila's face twisted. it was similar to the way hanne would show whenever her joints bothered her after she came back from whatever she was doing. that, halla knew, was something called pain. while she herself accrued some minor cuts and bruises, none of them caused her so much of this feeling for her to seek a cure. other times, the pain was from being hungry, but it was temporary and it'll gradually leave after she slept.

halla approached the gnetums and carefully plucked the entire plant from where it grew. hanne said it was best to only give those with symptoms two of the berries, but what would happen if halla made her take the entire stalk? no ache halla said with an affirming nod, snipping off three of them and presenting the smooth berries over to leila. halla's dark tail swished behind her in anticipation, knowing that her very first patient would be a big cat. help tummy, help all aches - eat all.

'Mother, here.' Leila scrutinized the reply, seeing no sign of a mother of any kind in the vicinity... but ultimately deciding she didn't want to push it lest she feel obliged to make sure the kid got home safe. Wherever that was. Leila scrunched her whiskers, mind and stomach in turmoil.

With a sigh she straightened up and padded the few steps after @Halla. Leila wanted a better look at this berry thing before she agreed to eat anything. Berries had never really been high on the radar of 'edible thing' to the tigress. She'd honestly rather eat fish
- and she hated the slimy, briny things with a passion.

Eat all of them? Leila inspected the offered stalk and berries carefully. They smelt like plants, which did nothing to ease her queasiness. "Ok." she mused finally, nosing the three berries that the cub had motioned to. With a lick Leila had eaten them, wrinkling her nose at the unfamiliar flavour. "They don't taste very good." she complained. But it didn't stop her, because the profile of relief from the ache was too good to pass up. Who knew plants could be so useful?

"Who did you learn all this from?" Leila asked after a pause, waiting for the swallowed berries to have an effect. Leila didn't think she'd been this clever that young.

art © rabbit

THESE VEINS OF HALLOWED HAUNTS
fixing someone was part of her job as a medic, and that meant having to sufferdeal with the attention it came with. halla could tend to her gardens and collect her medicines all she wanted, but she knew the importance of her trade, and that, in the end, she was being trained to help whoever comes her way. hanne said to do whatever's necessary to heal her patients, even if it means spending more time with them. which was why halla stayed put even after @Leila ingested the berries. she, after all, prescribed the entire plant for her, so it would only be right for her to watch her patient ingest everything else. eat more, more good halla said, voice gruff as she pushed the plant, ripe with berries, toward the cat. she was aware that the woman inquired about her trade, but it took a few more seconds for halla to find the correct words. hanne, old lion. she deliberately left out hanne's absence, as it could be quite troublesome for others to know that she was here alone. that too was taught to her by hanne, who said many were eager to take a cub back home. the thought made halla all the more certain that the forest and the jungle were her home, as here, no bad creatures can touch her.

Leila licked her whiskers to try soothe the green taste of the medicinal berry. Plants were really not her cup of tea, thank you. When the girl insisted she eat more, Leila's face pinched in complaint. "Do I really need to eat them all?" she mumbled. She peered at the branch of berries, nudged closer by a pale paw, and then back up at @Halla. Leila hadn't ever really interacted with a medic in any capacity before; let alone been treated by one.

Neither did she recognise the name the girl mentioned next; a mentor, Leila supposed. She mused on it, wishing she'd had someone to teach her about hunting at Halla's age. Her mother had been protective and done most things for her daughters. It was why it had been so jarring to be turned out in the cold after her first birthday.

"How will I know the berries are working?" she questioned next. Was there a feeling...? Maybe her tongue turned a different colour? Leila was curious.

art © rabbit

THESE VEINS OF HALLOWED HAUNTS
halla forced her scowl at @Leila's words to disappear, knowing that some patients, if not all, were not exactly easy to tell what to do. the gnetum may look nice, but it tasted awful. even so, medicine was medicine and she needed the cat to ingest it all, or else it just won't work. eat all, it work halla explained, nudging the berries further toward leila. be good, get better. her voice was stern, mirroring exactly hanne's own tone when she was the one looking after patients. sometimes, halla missed those days, when all she did was observe while hiding in her burrow. but halla was a big girl now, old enough to do what hanne did. if you die, you get buried she paused, looking around, thinking there would be another option floating about. halla will bury you here. and she was being serious; if leila died of her tummy ache then halla would have to dig a deep pit and throw her big cat body in. not that she wanted to, but at least she could get a nice new pelt out of it.