Finding Home (Ebony, Kayalee, River)

[Meesh]

Clearly his following her was no help at all. Ebony hesitated, then nodded slowly. "If you want to leave, I -I won't stop you" he said in that slow, quiet manner of his. "I'll stay in the territory until you're ready to find me then" Hesitating once before leaning forward to lick his childhood friend on the cheek lightly before turning and padding back to Kayalee. "With your permission of course, madam. I was hoping you could tell me a little more about Tribal life anyway, and how you live here" his voice was calm and his eyes steady, but Ebony couldn't help but be worried about River. She would be alright, wouldn't she? But maybe he was overworrying things, she seemed to have done fine for herself in the time that the two had been apart. Perhaps he should be a bit less of a worrywart. Ebony heaved a quiet sigh before turning and smiling politely up at Kayalee. "I hope you don't mind my curiosity- I've been thinking of joining a group for a while, but I haven't heard of any besides Starpack. Not" he added hurriedly "That I'm trying to invite myself or anything, I'm just a bit curious"

[Hazelstar]

Kayalee watched carefully as Ebony spoke, then bent down to lick River's cheek. Another creature who wants to know about the tribe and may join? Excellent! Kaylee thought at Ebony's question, a sparkle in her aqua eyes. "As I said before the tribe centers around family. There are three main jobs, hunters, warriors, and scouts. Hunters and warriors are pretty self explanatory, scouts act as guards off the camp and accompany patrols." Kayalee took a breath before continuing on. "There are also higher ranking such as the diplomat, someone who looks for new areas and communicates with other groups, captains, third in command, deputies, second in command, and leader, first in command." Kayalee's eyes glittered with pride as she continued on. "To be able to qualify for higher ranking positions a member must earn tribe points, points can be earned for doing tasks, competitions, even games!" Kayalee paused, "that's really the basic information about The Plains Tribe, and no, you aren't inviting yourself in because I am inviting you to join now, if you wish." Kayalee finished, her eyes shimmering.

[Deleted]

Great, now she felt bad. But she didn’t know how to erase anger except through spilling blood. Any blood. As it was right now, her instincts let her choose between her friends and prey. Prey would be better for many reasons. Kayalee seemed to understand, as she made an effort to try and calm River down. Even Ebony was trying to understand. She wished that completely erased the emotion, but all it did was buy her a little time, which she used to listen to the two. Was Ebony going to join them?

“I’ll be back soon.” Her voice was almost calm now. “Listen t Kayalee. She has a lot to teach us.” She sped off, leaving the two larger felines behind and trying again to find prey. There was a lizard basking in a low-hanging branch, and a bird pecking at the ground nearby. The lizard would likely be there a while, so she watched the bird, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

[Meesh]

Ebony's eyes sparkled at the invitation, and he dipped his head politely. "In which case, I would be honored to join your tribe, and my thanks for the invitation" his tail flicked back and forth as he added, more honestly. "Though to be completely honest, I'm not much of a hunter, and I've never really tried my paw at fighting, nor do I care too. Is there a more peaceful rank, something that has to do with herbs or healing, perhaps?" He nodded at Kayalee's description on the Scouts. "If you would accept me as a Scout though, I would be glad to be one" he meowed, adding with grin "Running is, at least, one thing I can do well, and scouting across the entire territory does sound like fun"

He glanced once at the area River had disappeared off to before commenting "This experience thing does sound like an interesting concept. Perhaps you could tell me a bit more about it?"

[Hazelstar]

"Hmm...." Kayalee thought out loud. "A healing rank.... I've never thought of that possibility." Kayalee's eyes sparkled. "I suppose I can set up a healer rank, just in case we get diseases or injuries from fighting." She meowed happily, her eyes still sparkling. She thought about how to explain the experience for a moment then began. "Well, experience, as I said, can be earned through tasks, games, or competitions. A tribe member can earn any amount of experience for these accomplishments." She paused. "There are four experience rankings, a new member starts as a seed, when a member hits 250 experience they become a sapling, at 500 an oak, and at 1000 an ancient oak." Kayalee smiled warmly, then continued. "Don't let the high numbers get you down, experience is fairly easy to receive, River joined only a few days ago and already has 35 tribe experience points!" She finished, "Anything else you want to know?" She asked, flicking her tail.

[Deleted]

The bird had its back to her, and she waited until it bent its head down before making her leap. The catch was nearly perfect – it didn’t see her until it was already too late and she landed with her paws pining its wings to the ground. She dispatched the bird and went after the lizard, but the lizard was quicker than she thought and all she managed to catch was its tail as the appendage detached and the rest of the creature crawled underground.

Not wanting to waste what was there, River ate the tail. She then sniffed around, catching an unfamiliar scent. She followed it to another reptile. This one was long and legless, but quick, and it struck her as she reached it, long fangs piercing the flesh of her shoulder. Pain seared through her body, and she did…something. Her mind blanked out, but when she was aware again she had the creature in two pieces, just barely salvageable as food.

River didn’t feel calm, but she did wear herself out – much faster than usual, it seemed – and she decided that was good enough. She collected her prey and headed back to the other felines, trying her best to ignore the pain that stabbed at her from her shoulder wound. Her steps grew gradually smaller and shakier as she walked but she pressed on. Once she reached the others, she could rest and see what to do about her shoulder.

[Meesh]

Ebony nodded, relief showing in his eyes. "I already know a few of the herbs around Starpack territory, and I'm looking at the different ones here, though I haven't had a chance to examine them all yet. And I'll be glad to join your tribe, in that case" he dipped his head. "Thank you so much. And I'll scout the territory in my spare time, so you won't lack for a border patrol, I promise - er, as soon as I learn the territory, that is - is there a way I can start up on earning these 'experience points' now?" The rustling of pawsteps made him turn his head, recognizing the scent. "It seems River's heading back" the feline commented, hoping she'd have forgiven him by now.

It didn't take long for him to notice the stumble. "River? What happened?! You alright?" he asked, quickly rushing to her side

[Hazelstar]

"You already know about herbs, that's good news." Kayalee meowed, curling up her tail in happiness. She tilted her head to the side. "I don't have any tasks for you at the moment, but I'm sure one will come up eventually." She meowed. "I'm sure you scouting could earn you some experience points since it is now a part of your main duties." She added, hoping to not upset the new member.

When River appeared looking shaky Kayalee sped towards her and meowed. "What on earth happened to you, my dear?" She spied two small incisions on the aboriginals shoulders and turned to Ebony. "I assume she has been bitten by a snake, we need to get her back to camp." She then added. "Do you have any idea how to keep the poison from spreading?" Kayalee's eyes were wide with fear, she had never heard of a creature being bitten by a snake.

[[Meesh could you fill out a form in the tribe thread in plotting please, it is required to join ]]

[Deleted]

River shivered as the two larger felines quickly closed the distance between them and began fretting over her. Now that the need to get back had been taken care of, her legs didn’t want to support her anymore, and she collapsed onto her stomach, fighting to keep her breathing even. Both felines spoke to her, but it seemed like too much effort to respond with words. She let go of the bodies she’d been carrying. Maybe that would be enough of an answer.

The pain she felt now was more than she ever thought it possible to feel. It went beyond a sliced or bruised muscle, and seemed like it was attempting to invade her entire body. It was incredible how all this stemmed from a couple tiny fangs puncturing her skin. If she ever hunted that type of reptile – snake, Kayalee had called it – again, she’d have to be much more careful.

Assuming there would be a next time…

[Meesh]

((Posted a form :3))

For the briefest of moments, Ebony froze. He knew he'd have to put his herb talents to use eventually, but so soon?! He wasn't expecting this at all. The momentary freeze ended in seconds, and Ebony gently pulled River's paw out from under her, examining the now-swelling pawmark with the oozing punctures. He stared at it a moment, trying to recall what Silva had told him about snake bites when he had passed through the Maple Forest. The memory finally returned to him and he nodded, turning to Kayalee. "Do this" he demonstrated, pressing hard on River's upper leg. "Don't break the bone, but try to cut off the blood flow. Lick at the puncture a bit to see if you can draw any of the poison out, but spit out and don't swallow any. I know which herb to get. Don't move her until after I return" Waiting to make sure Kayalee understood his words, he turned and dashed off.

He had seen several herbs in the Maple Forest- including the grey creeper, which would have been useful now- but he knew that by the time he'd run and get the herbs, River might not make it. What about that whitish flower he saw on the way here? Yes, he remembered those. He hadn't seen or scented a single snake near any of the patches he found, so he knew, at least, it repelled them. That would mean it could work on their poison, right? Now, jut to find them....Calm down Ebony. If you rush, you'll panic, and you'll only go slower He closed his eyes, trying to recall the scent of the white flowers. Sickly Sweet and pleasant....there! He scented some! Much easier to scent than prey, Ebony though off handedly, dashing tot he patch. He worked gently, paws carefully tearing off few flowers, careful not to damage the entire patch.

One mouthful later, he was off and sprinting back to where he had left Kayalee and River, chewing as fast as he could, the flowers becoming a sticky pate in his mouth, a few more dry uncrushed ones tucked under his chin.


(I'm using rotting flowers, as described in the Plant Encyclopedia :3)

[Hazelstar]

When River fell Kayalee's mouth opened in a gasp she pushed the prey away from River with her paw and bent down by the injured cat. She put her mouth over the two slices of the snake's fangs and sucked the blood and spat it out. It tasted vile, but she kept going. She didn't know if it was helping but she has to try to get as much venom out of the small feline. When Ebony raced off Kayalee removed her mouth from the cuts and put her ear against the aboriginal's chest, her heart was beating quickly but at a faltering pace. Kayalee knew this meant trouble. She moved her mouth back to the incisions and began to suck out more of the vile tasting blood. She hoped Ebony would come back with whatever she had gone to get soon, Kayalee couldn't keep up sucking out the tainted blood much longer. She lifted her head when she heard the thundering of paws, and sighed with relief when she saw Ebony blazing towards the two.

[Deleted]

Words were spoken, but it seemed hard to listen and River couldn’t discern any meanings. There was an odd sensation on her wound, though she couldn’t place it either, and wasn’t aware as she would have liked to be of the things going on around her. She knew her companions were worried for her, and perhaps trying to help her, but as time wore on it became harder and harder to ignore the pain and discomfort from the wound and soon it became a struggle to stay conscious at all. She had been willing to give up being coherent and supporting her own weight, but consciousness she would fight for. If she could keep herself awake, maybe she could keep herself alive.

[Meesh]

Ebony skidded to a halt by the barely conscious River, spitting the paste into her wound and pressing down with his forepaws to get it in. "You can take your paw off her leg now" he tried to say to Kayllee. Unfortunately, his mouth was still full of paste so it sounded more like "mmmf blllf borf" but he nudged Kayalee's paw away with his nose to make his meaning clear, still spitting more of the paste into the puncture. Once he had patted down the paste, the swelling seemed to subside slightly, and Ebony heaved a sigh of relief.
Now for something to keep the poultice on with. He glanced around, spotting a few clumps of the Blue grasses that gave the Blue Plains their name. Well, that should do Ebony though, ripping up a few clumps with his paws and tying them like a bandage around River's paw. His mouth was still too sticky from the remains of the plant to speak, but he managed a nod in Kayalee's direction and a purr, flicking his head towards River and then jerking it towards where he assumed the Plain's Tribe den to be. The flowers that he didn't chew, still nestled under his chin, he checked to make sure were intact and still there. He didn't know if he had rubbed enough into River's paw, but just in case, these few flowers would save him another run.
"Mrrrf"

[Hazelstar]

River's breathing became softer and more forced as Ebony ran towards the two. Ebony said something to her but she couldn't understand because his mouth was full of something. He nudged her paw with his nose so Kayalee shifted her paw to the ground. "Did you find anything that is useful?" She asked as Ebony spat some paste onto River's wound. A burning started in Kayalee's throat, probably from the venom she had been sucking from River's wound. She began hacking viciously, enough that it made her bow forward. The coughing lasted for a few seconds, then she stood up straight as Ebony tried to say something else, then pointed from River to the direction of camp. Kayalee bent her head and pushed her nose under River's back and eased River over her ears until she was draped across Kayalee's shoulders. She then walked steadily towards camp until the hacking began again, she tried to stay up straight but the force of the coughing was again to strong, she bowed forward and River slipped over her head and back onto the ground.

[Deleted]

The small feline was still awake – barely – when Ebony began treating her wound. The effect…the pain was so severe she couldn’t tell if it was an immediate relief. There was an odd, new discomfort, and then the pain slowly started to decrease. With the relief came a stronger urge to sleep, but still she refused. She was not going to let herself drift off until she knew she was going to be all right.

Something budged her, and she coughed as it moved her completely, draping her on something soft and warm. Or was it someone soft and warm? Her paws flexed, but she couldn’t get muster the energy to grip properly.

After some time, she was aware of coughing that wasn’t hers, and she found herself suddenly on the ground. She hissed as pain hit and tried unsuccessfully to get to her paws. Eventually, she managed to focus her vision on Kayalee. Something was happening to her. What, though? Was it another snake?