I must have lost my mind

The air was warm as she sun moved high into the sky, the rays laying warm onto her black coat. She enjoyed it when the sun wasn't obstructed in the sky, always preferring to see the clear sky above her. It not only made her feel good, but also made finding herbs easier as well. The garden that her and @Err had made was growing wonderfully, small insects finding their way to make the garden their home. Mystery carried the basket that Err had made for her, a small smile on her face as she carried it. The rat was the first creature within these lands to show her kindness and help her out. They had a mutual agreement over the herbs that they both used, but their relationship quickly grew from one of just co-workers to friends.

Laying her basket down, she would move to sit by the edge of a tree, watching the way the ants crawled up the bark, carrying various items with them. Not far up, she found a small spider family, watching how they moved and weaved their webs. She did use their webs for healing after all, so she loved learning more about how they moved and worked. However, she wasn't paying attention to the world around her until she heard the loud roar that she new was a brown bear. 

Shit...

Turning quickly, she saw the creature, thankfully seemingly on the smaller side. She snarled low as she backed away, keeping her eyes on it. The bear rushed her quickly and she lunged to meet it half way, grabbing onto its front leg with a snarl. However, she wasn't the only one that found purchase as she felt claws slice down her right side, a hiss escaping her. Letting go for a moment, she would rush again, snarling and snapping at various parts of the creatures body until it finally backed off, leaving with an angry roar. 

Panting, she assessed her own wounds, noting the large wound on her side as well as various small cuts across her face and shoulders. It wasn't anything new to her and she quickly went to her basked to start making herself a poultice to stop the bleeding.

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 Err walked with The Gray One and another rat that had freckles which he so creatively dubbed, The Spotted One. He was out and about with them, searching for any new things that he could take back to his den. Whether that was for items to craft or things to use for medical supplies. They'd already collected a large assortment of herbs and mosses when they heard the sound of a bear roaring. Terrified, Err ushered the rats up a tree and ran up himself. Abandoning the herbs on the ground in favor of their safety. If they were lucky the bear would ignore everything and wander off. 

 He could hear roaring and snarling, some from a wolf and not just a wolf... but a familiar sounding wolf. He told is companions to wait for his call while he went to investigate. He hopped from tree to tree like a squirrel, all the way until he could see what the commotion was about. The sight left him feeling sick with worry and fear. It was Mystery! A bear had attacked her and she was lying on the ground with a gash in her side. Err started to rush towards her but then stopped, ran back towards his rodent companions and called urgently for the herbs. They scrambled to obey while he rushed down the tree and ran over to his friend. "Myst! Myst!" He called frantically as he hopped over. He grasped one of her legs --or a tiny portion of it, as it were-- and looked up at her. "I'm so sorry this happened to you! Don't worry, I've got The Gray One and The Spotted One bringing more supplies! We'll get you patched up in no time." He hated to see her beaten up like this although it would just be another scar to add to her wound collection. They'd have her fixed in no time.

 She had already started on making poultices and he began to collect some moss so he could clean the wound with some water from nearby while he waited on the extra supplies from his pack.

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Feel free to control the Rat Pack if you want.

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She was glad that the bear had left, not wanting to deal with it anymore, though she was very proud of herself for standing her ground in that fight. She was used to fighting other wolves but a bear was indeed different. However, the familiar voice caught her attention as small hands pressed against her leg. Glancing down, a soft sigh would escape her lips, feeling happy that Err was there. "I'm alright, are you and your companions alright?" If there were here it meant they had seen or come across the bear at some point as well. Unlike her, they most certainly couldn't fight off a bear. 

He sounded worried about her and for some reason, that made her sad and happy at the same time. However, it was clear Err had taken over the healing. Normally, she might have argued and said that she could do it herself, but she knew better, instead laying her body down to give him and his rat friends easier access to her wounds. "I didn't expect anyone to be out here." She was grateful that they were though. She could feel a bunch of small paws climb over her, but she had gotten so used Err climbing around her, so it wasn't too different. 

She didn't mind having another scar, but with it being worked on and healed this fast, it may not. "Thank you." She relaxed herself as they started to work with the herbs on her wounds, feeling safe and  trusting her rat friend.

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 Was he alright? He was warmed by her concern for him. Ah, but he was sure she was this kind to everyone. A strange one in their pack where death and destruction were common themes. Still, it was nice to have her. "Oh yes, bears don't normally bother with rats. I don't think we're worth the trouble of catching." It was a plus being so small sometimes. 

 The other rats made it back with an assortment of herbs and he began to work on crafting a poultice while he sent them away for the water. He would use his deft paws to get some goldenrod blossoms and do what he could to wipe them over the wounds to stem some of the bleeding and clean them. It wasn't as good as water but it was what he had at the moment until his associates returned. 

 As he worked, crawling over his friend as he fixed her up, he spoke. "Thank-you? There's nothing to thank. It's my job." Well, it was that and also, "Besides, I don't want anything bad happening to you. You're my friend and no matter what I'm always gonna fix you up and help you out." If only he could have predicted how much that would come to play in the future. 

 The rat knew as well that if he were injured that she would help him out. Their friendship had moved quickly but damn, he couldn't help it at all. They just, went together and worked together so well and he genuinely liked spending time with her. Not because she was the boss and being in her good graces meant he got to live that much longer but because he liked her company. 

 The rats skittered back over, laden with wet moss that Err instructed them to place upon his "medical table" which is just a fancy word for "part of Mystery's uninjured flank". "Go make some poultices out of those herbs like I've taught you." He told them while he worked on rinsing off some of the woman's wounds, the goldenrod had worked wonders on stopping the bleeding and now he just wanted them especially clean before applying the poultice. After he finished washing her various wounds, he too would start work on mixing herbs.

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She found herself sighing slightly in relief, happy that him and his pals weren't hurt. For the most part, she remained still as they worked, knowing first hand how difficult it was to heal a moving target. She hissed slightly as he put the poultice over her wounds, though she was familiar with the stinging pain. She chuckled softly at his words, shaking her head lightly. "I know I don't have to thank you, but I want to." She would reach over to give him a very, very soft nuzzle, making sure not to crush the little rat. 

She let him continue to work, ears alert as she listened to make sure the bear didn't come back. Thankfully the scent was gone for now, though she hoped it remained that way. As they all started mixing the herbs, she would slowly move around, careful not to move around the herbs that were placed on her. "Here, hand me some and I can help grind them." She clearly hated to be waited on and felt like, though she was the injured one here, she should at least help out. She did have the knowledge for it after all. 

It wasn't that she didn't trust Err, she trusted him and his rats with her life. But she wanted to help out, not really knowing what else to do otherwise.

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 ”I appreciate it…” He said, reaching up to pat her on the nose when she gently nuzzled him. Such a kind soul that happened to find herself here.

 After a while of he and his companions doing their work, the she-wolf would ask to help mix some of the poultices. He looked over at her, clearly considering whether to fulfill her request or not. ”Can’t let yourself be waited on?” He laughed and then waved a paw dismissively. ”Come on, let us tend to you and you focus on being a good patient.” If she pushed he would acquiesce but he would prefer she not have to worry about it at all. ”Or better yet, why don’t you focus on something else? Tell me something new about yourself.” To keep her mind busy while they tended to her, plus it would let them talk a bit while he worked.

 The mixing of poultices was going well and he put down the moss so that he could continue to spread it all over her wounds, working with the other rats to make sure that she was well tended to. He wouldn’t stop until every wound was treated, even the smaller ones.

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She found herself laughing softly at his words, finding that he was a lot like her in a lot of regards. Shaking her head slightly, she would speak up, a light tone on her voice even after what happened. "You know, being healer usually means I'm not on the end of the healing. I'm not used to others healing my own wounds." She would chuckle but lay herself back down, relaxing as they continued to work on healing her wounds. Hearing his words, she would think for a moment before speaking.

"Well, I've been a healer most of my life. For the most part I taught myself through trial and error, most of my youth wasn't the happiest story, but from it I learned to be a confident warrior and great healer so it wasn't all that bad. I fought most of my life, and used my own wounds to practice medicine." For the most part, that was the reason for her scars, she wasn't the best healer back then, but she had gotten better through the years. "I'm not sad about it though, if anything I'm grateful for what I've grown into." She turned her head to look at him as he worked. "What about you, I can't be the only one telling their story." 

She smiled as she spoke, eyes sparkling with curiosity.

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 "Oh, I can understand that but it's nice to be tended to sometimes." He paused and then added on, "If you're really into pampering, perhaps I can give you a paw-massage. I used to do that with my sister sometimes, it does wonders for the feet." He thought himself especially gifted at such things, it helped when one had such dexterous paws. 

 It seemed as if everything was going smoothly, he helped the other rats with the more involved things but now with the poultices placed it all seemed well. "Go report to Vengeance that there's a bear roaming around here in Foxfire." It might need to be dealt with. One wolf was nothing to a bear but several? It would have to relocate itself or the boss would likely tear out its throat. 

 The rats skittered away and Err was left alone with his friend as she spoke over past. He listened while checking over his fellow rodents' handy-work to make sure they hadn't made any errors. All seemed well. 

 He came up to sit on her shoulder so that he and she could easily converse with each other. "Well, as unfortunate as a bad upbringing is, it has helped you to develop your skills. Learning healing usually is from unfortunate circumstances, if you think about it." He said this with a chuckle. If wolves weren't always being hurt through sickness or their own fangs, they'd both be out of a job! "The more unfortunate circumstances there are, the better you get at healing." Which his friend certainly had happen to her! Same with him and his previous pack. 

 "Hahaha! You're right, fair is fair." He said as he reached over to grab an unused piece of moss to clean his paws. "The longer I stay here, the blurrier it seems to get but... I was in another wolf pack before here." He couldn't remember where they fell on the alignment standpoint but he knew that they were nice enough to him and that was really all that mattered. "My family, the rat ones, had always been incorporated into the pack as healers and crafters. I simply learned the tools of the trade through them. We provided services and the wolves kept us safe. As far as I know, that's how it had always been." 

 "Pretty boring I'm sure, compared to your more violent upbringing." He laughed and used a paw to playfully shove --if you could call it that from a rat's miniscule mass-- his friend.

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The woman chuckled softly at his word, shaking her head. "I'd love a massage every now and then, though I can't return the favor or I may crush you." She was enjoying her time with the rat, something she really didn't expect. For the most part, she thought the Nightwalkers would be much meaner and ruder than this. That wasn't to say that they weren't, but for the most part everyone she had met from here was relatively nice to her. It might just be because she was a healer and therefore could choose life or death, but nonetheless, it was rather nice. 

She listened to his story, looking over her should at him. She liked hearing him tell stories and maybe would ask him later to tell her some more. Towards the end of his story though, she felt him playfully shove her and though their size difference, she would move her head to the side as if his shove actually did something. Stretching slightly, she would move to stand up, keeping him on her shoulder as she was careful not to throw him off. 

The wounds stung a little but it felt much  better than it did before. "Thanks for this, now we should probably get going before that bear decides to come back for revenge. It wasn't very happy that I beat it's ass." She seemed very proud of the fact that she did so, holding her head up high.

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 "Perfectly acceptable, I do not take any personal offence." He was used to not having healing or other things done to him by wolves. When you barely weighed a single pound, it was easy for others to accidentally crush you if they weren't careful. He always liked to err on the side of caution. 

 Ah, how he loved his times with Mystery immensely. It was made even better when the pack left and now, they could converse and spend some time together. He squeaked a laugh at her humoring of his shove. He expertly moved as she did, shifting positions and holding on so that he didn't fall off of her back. In the end, he sat between her shoulder blades with his back leaned against her neck in a comfortable lounging position. "Wouldn't dream of heading anywhere else! Who else is better to hang around than the bear-butt-kicker herself." How amusing.

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