[PRP] A Terrible Patient (Alderfly & LiShun)

[~Latonia de la Courtel~]

Lat Teepee X Sweeny Teepee

 

[~Latonia de la Courtel~]

"Of all the days to injure herself,and she picks the one where I'm on duty. How is that fair, honestly?" The silver coated stallion known as Delrialto griped to thin air, his restless circles threatening to wear the grass down to dirt by the time all was said and done. He paced endless circles around the outside of the small clearing, waiting for the Healer to arrive. "What is great-grandmother Firefly going to think when she finds out I let her little sister get hurt?"



At the center of the clearing, constantly being circled by the older wind stallion and feeling some weird kinship for carrion that had begun to attract crows -or vultures- rested a grullo coated mare with blood streaming down her gray stockinged hind leg. Exhausted by the fiasco that followed when she tried to free herself from the razor vines and now laying prone on the grass, Alderfly attempted to hold her temper and found it very difficult indeed.

Finally,up to her ears with the indignity of it all, she lifted her head and narrowed her eyes at her great-nephew. "You know as well as I do that I didn't do it on purpose, Delri, so just stop giving me grief. Besides, if you four noble idiots would get it through your thick heads that I don't need a babysitter, you wouldn't be here right now! You could be off with your boyfriend or a girlfriend or a half dozen of both and I wouldn't care! More to the point, you wouldn't know if I'd gotten injured because you'd be off living your own life and letting me live mine! Wouldn't that be a winter miracle!"

Thrashing her way to her belly and sitting upright -though not foolish enough to stand with the way her haunch was sluggishly bleeding- Allie fixed narrowed rose eyes on the older wind stallion. "Stop doing that. You're my great nephew, and older or not it is not your responsibility to watch over me! I'm an adult, and even if I'm the only female that you protective idiots get to fuss over, there is no reason to treat me like a filly! Every single one of you have gotten caught or tangled or torn by those razor vines, so I don't want to hear any excuses to the contrary! I was walking in the woods, I'm injured, I'll handle it."

She hesitated a moment, watching him draw breath to argue, and then cut in again. "Or no that's right, I won't! Because once again my overprotective idiot relations have taken care of that too! Lucky my knight on the wing happened to be hovering and stalking my every step, so he could wing off to fetch a healer and then come back and hover over me. Of course, it won't matter if the healer gets here soon or not, because you're likely as not to smother me with all of your worrying!"

When it once again appeared that he would argue with her, Allie made a barked sound "Ah! No, I am not finished yet. I've had enough of all of it, all four of you. It seems like you forgot that I did exactly as you do, when I was a filly! I wonder where I learned that from? Me riding herd on my siblings, with us all being the same age, is still less ridiculous than the four of you having a freak out over every little thing I do. I'm an adult and if I want to march to the ocean or take myself up into the mountains I damn well will. No more of your good natured hovering or just "being in the area" and deciding to follow me around all day. I'll wait for the healer like I ought, follow their instructions and then I am leaving for somewhere far away and that's the end of it. Maybe the healer has space in their entourage, I don't care. I want to see things without a babysitter."

Sweenys_Revenge

Quoting you too.

 

[Sweenys_Revenge]

Li Shun pounded the dirt, rocketing himself down the path towards the injured mare. The stallion who had found him had been so very worried and spoken so very quickly that Li was certain that his intervention could mean the difference between life and death. Clouds of dust flew up behind him, leaving the only trace that the green streak had been anything corporeal to begin with. The beat of his hooves pounded inside his head, lungs on fire either from the flying dust or his pace -- it didn't matter why. All that mattered was getting to the homestead in time to stop whatever bleeding there was and save the patient. That was all that ever mattered. All that ever mattered.

Li Shun crashed onto the scene, shouting for water and for a clear space to work. Through his barking orders, it took him moment to realize what he was looking at. In his haste, he hadn't heard the bickering, only the pounding of blood in his head as he raced against time. He blinked for a second, chest heaving as his sprinting caught up with him. He wasn't a colt after all, hadn't been for a long time, and fit as he was, that was not a pace he was meant for any longer.

And then he laughed. Not like a little breathy laugh, but a long, loud, whole body laugh that rocked him from his ears to his hooves.

"Oh gods," he finally gasped, able to speak once more, "I thought she was dying from the way your messenger made it sound." His voice was low and smooth and came from deep within his chest.

"Well, now that I know it's not an emergency, can you please go fetch a bowl of hot water," Li addressed the pacing stallion adept tail snaking into the pouch on his flank for his tools and herbs. "I need something to clean the wound with and something to make a paste for the herbs. Whenever you get a chance - but the sooner the better."

Li pulled out a small roll of bandages and tore off a small hunk to clean off the solid matter and foliage.

"So. You much be Alderfly. And you must be very important for someone to think that this scratch was a life threatening maiming."  

[~Latonia de la Courtel~]

At the sound of laughter the grullo mare thrashed herself upright again, eyes wide as she cast her gaze around the grove. The newly arrived stallion was in danger of blending right into their surroundings, his coat a glossy green that reminded her of the refreshing blanket of the canopy on a summer day. Bright and healthy, and quite different from those she was used to seeing on a daily basis. Most of her family and herd were neutral shades, bays and blacks and grays. They had no bold colors to speak of, and certainly did not tread on silent paws.

She took a moment to glare threateningly at her nephew, her pink eyes promising retribution once the witness had left, and then turned her attention back to the healer. Delri had honestly done it, gone and disturbed a complete stranger, likely with tales of Alderfly's imminent death to guilt the poor stranger in rushing to her. If she could stand without pain, she'd have kicked him by now... at least twice.

"I am sorry, gifted one." She murmured, struggling to to regain some composure in spite of the situation. "My relatives -all of them- tend to overrreact when it comes to my safety. I have no idea why as they have done quite a few suicidal things all on their own... But I do hope we did not interrupt you while you were doing something important."

She glares at Delri again, eyes narrow and sharp. "You had better help him, since this is all your fault."

Delri gave Li Shun a sweeping bow, gesturing with one wing and all, before straightening with a wide grin. "It would be my pleasure to assist you, Healer. I'll get right on that. Take care of my Auntie, won't you?"

And with a cheeky grin he launched himself into the air, winging back toward the nearby camp for the water as requested.

Allie glared the silver stallion out of sight before turning back to the healer with a sigh and a weak smile. "I am, but please call me Allie. As for the important bit, I'm not sure about all that. But I have four protective male relatives that tend to coddle me; I can only imagine they swore my life was nigh to ending. I am truly sorry if they bothered you."

Sweenys_Revenge

 

[Sweenys_Revenge]

Li Shun listened attentively as the mare spoke, clearing off whatever solid matter from the cut he could with his tail. This, unfortunately, included pulling small pieces of whatever she had been caught in from the tender flesh. For this, he used his teeth, careful all the while not to touch the wound. She sounded almost embarrassed if Li wasn't misunderstanding her tone. Not that she would have been the first to think his presence was unnecessary, nor would she be the last. He was... unfortunately used to be apologized to in this manner.

"It's no bother at all. It's what I'm here for. There is no injury too small for my attention. You'd be surprised the seemingly insignificant injuries which have had dire consequences. Last month I had to take off the leg of a soquili who had let an infection go for months. All from a little nic, not bigger than this."

One of many, Li was loathed to recall, who hadn't taken injuries seriously.

"It's almost never the injury that takes a soquili or at least some part of them.
Every time it's the infection from poor care to the injury. Or no care in some cases. I've seen flesh slough from bone as easily as overripe stone fruit from its pit." He spoke to the sound of his pestle banging out a slow thumping beat against the mortar as he ground down the herbs for disinfectant.

"Of course, you won't fall victim to something like that. Not with such a loving family to care for you. Nod doubt even after I'm gone they at least will keep up my care instructions, even if you don't want them to." Li flashed her a knowing smile as he worked. "But I'm sure you will also do your part to keep yourself healthy."

~Latonia de la Courtel~