---

takes place after this thread. Aw but she is looking for Euphemia <3

Iglux̂ wonders whether she would have come so far so quickly had she known the ache she would face along her ribs. In the final stretch of her trek the cut begins to throb fiercely. She has kept it dry, yet her summer coat is too thin to bar all dirt from finding the wound.
This worries her. A cut to the torso allows for malcontent spirits to pass into the body. But it is not why she has come.
In the same forest where a woman of dawnbreak met that of saatsine, Iglux̂ slows. She sings timidly at first, then again with a bit more mettle.

Nutuyikruk followed in secret.



Some place to hold party. Cen spoke of aiding the northern woman. Iglux would not stay still long enough to call it aid. It led to a long drag of trekking through the snow blankets and traversing through whiteout winds.

But what it led to was an assortment of beauty for a home. The high reaching of mountains! It reminded her of the ridge, and at a distance, she watched with eyes peaking through the stones and forest trees.

[she doesn't know that the world is turning just for her]

so sorry for making you wait!

---

Another day in the Vale; but this one was colder than the one that came before it. Euphemia could smell the chill on the wind as easily as she could scent fallen, sickly-sweet prey. It worried her naught, for her home amongst the mountains was impregnable even from the forces of nature itself. The plague, which riddled the southern regions, had not even begun to touch this place.

More than anything, Euphemia saw this as just another summer and spring wasted. A foraging season squandered by foraging along; another season with her shelves full of healing herbs, but nary a patient to implement them upon. At the very least, she could live a life of thrill and adventure through the conduit of others.

In this way, Euphemia visited the memory of the Saatsine woman often. She wondered where Iglux was and what her pack was like. Euphemia imagined different scenery daily, traversing the many different woes and joys that came when traveling long distances, for long periods of time (not that Euphemia would know, never having traveled more than two days distance from her birthplace). The maiden would then wonder if, perhaps, she should have followed through and planned a hunt between Dawnbreak and Saatsine.

For both her desire to heal and her desire to see Iglux once more, did the universe have quite a grand surprise for her!

Euphemia was not quick to answer the call, as she found herself needing to traverse much of the territory, and by the time she had reached the borders Euphemia had worked herself up into such a tizzy that, upon seeing the silver northerner, she could not control the wag of her tail. She brazenly approached, open and welcoming, only feeling a smidgen sore for the fact that she had not gone seeking Iglux first. Friend! she greeted simply, remembering quickly that the woman did not speak the common tongue well.

Welcome to Dawnbreak!

---

---

never any rush! <3

She is every inch the foreigner, visiting not from so far but a disparate culture. The chance of upsetting dawnbreak had her stowed in the leeward shade of a large crag. Nutuyikruk was trailing her again, though this time the scent lay farther off. She trusted the moonwolf to have a mind not to enter pack territory without a formal welcome. Though it is not as if she had one, and in waiting the huntress visualizes every dangerous way this meet could go.
But Euphemia’s delight takes Iglux̂ away from her silence, silver tail having already slipped its moorings and swaying against the stone in equal admiration.
“Euphemia, hello,” she emerges at the end with a little flick of tailtip, relieved to see the bright goldfinch eyes. Only then is she free to turn her gaze between the healer of dawnbreak and the vast range that was her home. Never had a spire of crying wind risen to such a height, and Iglux̂ felt herself so small beneath them.
“It beautiful,” her breath is touched with awe.
She was a lanzadoii hunter, and Euphemia a healer of these mountains. But out in the world, they were more alike than different. They were both young, they were both from great peaks, and against all odds, they were becoming friends. Her ears pin and she closes the distance with another step.
“I sorry. Have come— empty, but asking for medicine-wolf help.”

Medicine? Why were they in need of medicine?

Nutuyikruk hid! Wondered next if perhaps Iglux had been sick! Did Cen bring illness into the band in the form of a white wolf woman? The white mouth plague that had taken hold of red boys mother? Iglux did not act sick.

But perhaps maybe she did, and Nutuyikruk had been blind to it! Licking flank to feet, bathing off the presumed ‘sick’ that came from being around ill men and women.

[she doesn't know that the world is turning just for her]

skill: [none]

---

Euphemia was only aware of Iglux, and no one else who might or might not have been around them. Even if the other had not been so clandestine, the silver maiden still might not have noticed her being, so taken with Iglux was she! For a moment, Euphemia wished she could gather the slate sylph up in an embrace, the way she did with her sisters, or perhaps the way she had with mother. A desired nearness.

However, Euphemia settled quite happily for sharing smiles that nearly reflected the vibrancy of the sun itself.

You’re hurt? Euphemia asserted, stepping forward in concern, her voice brimming with a thousand questions at once. Just as quickly as she stepped forward did she regain the wheedling step backwards, embarrassment gathering in the pit of her belly at her assumption. There was nothing to say that Iglux was the one who was wounded, but –

Euphemia sniffed the air with her northern-coal nose, assessing the vapors with a finesse she had witnessed from mother. What happened? the ophelia asked, wilting inside, keeping her worry contained. Her acquaintance had come to her seeking help, and she was duty-bound to give it, whether she considered herself ready, or not.

Worthy, or not.

---

She decides Euphemia has a face made for smiling, and casts her in an affectionate glance. The sisters of crying wind were not so companionable, for they did not give sweetness in words. Was this dawnbreak’s sincerity? Or did it belong solely to the goldfinch?
“Oh, hurt,” Iglux̂ repeats, the sound wrapping itself in gentle mimicry. She leans, easing the pain of the new groove and rubs a maw over her ribs. A long, thin scar would stain here. Once, she would have minded this, for it spoiled her image as a homemaker.
“Hunting hurt. But hurt heal.” Turning back, her lips ease into a reassuring grin, softening to know she had earned Euphemia’s worry. Putting into words the true cause of her coming was more difficult.
“Need help in… pain. Bad leg in boy that stay hurting— hurting for all time.”

Caan’s leg.

At the edges of the girls mouth was a frown. Would the boy want help? And if he did, could it be helped?
All many saw in the child would be that leg. The pity, the need to help and make it better. How fragile and brittle Nutuyikruk would be, for all to look down upon her injuries.

It was likely Iglux was aware of her, and though the servant intended to stay to be a helpful girl with useful tricks who might carry many things, the urge to return came. Something brought a deep sadness in the girl, and soon the two women were at the child’s tail. She’d be waiting for Iglux at the borders.
Whenever they were to return home, Caan would have to receive Nutuyikruk’s warning for what might be to come! For he might be her brother, and she a terribly anxious sister!

---

Nutu shippable from here unless addressed/asked to come back<3

[she doesn't know that the world is turning just for her]

skill: [none]

---

Her wound had already partially knitted itself, and Euphemia finally understood why she hadn’t been able to perceive it through sight or scent, or through the palpable energetic tension that always eked out of the recently wounded. Euphemia nodded, adapting quickly to the information that it was not herself for whom Iglux sought medical care.

However, he carefully selected words that the northern woman used to describe the nature of the wounded boy caused Euphemia grave concern.

It came not exactly from the part of her soul that wished to be a doctor and heal others, but from the part of her soul that loathed to ever find her own pack member in such a state. Euphemia was a realist and understood the chaotic nature of the world; that bad things happened to good wolves, and that was all that could be said for it. Such a realization never succeeded in dulling the pain that it caused.

Hurting for all time? the silver maiden sought to affirm, her large ears sliding back along her head and staying clamped there. A leg was an awfully important thing to be wounded, and if Iglux did not know exactly what caused the hurt, then it was likely internal – a bone or a muscle that she could not herself fix. As far as Euphemia knew, no one could fix such things, besides the Gods themselves.

She took notice of the departure of another in the direction of Saatsine. How long had that girl been there, and why hadn’t she introduced herself? Figuring it to be nothing more than a travel companion for Iglux, Euphemia gathered her attention back to the task at hand. Taking a hint from the departing fae, she suggested Shall we go? which not only acquiesced to her new friend’s request, but gave her more time to think about what to do for him;

because she hadn’t a clue. She wished Mother was here. She even wished Solvi here, even if it was to shuffle the responsibility of someone’s health and fate onto the shoulders of another. He should not travel, she explained simply, with a downwards nod of her maw, hoping she was being understood how she wished to be understood. Her mind churning a thousand things at once, Euphemia finally concluded on their next step.

I need my medicines, the woman said softly, more slowly than she might have with anyone else, especially with the sudden rush of excitement from being needed. Then, a smile and a turn of the shoulder beckoned the northern inside. Will you help me? Without knowing exactly what she would need, she wanted to bring more than she could carry in her mouth alone.

---