It wasn’t often that the primal beast did wander into the cities and villages, but when he did it was for a good reason. Atop his mighty beast, blood trickled down his left arm, dripping off of his left hand as it dangled by his side as they strode on at a cat-walk pace. He really didn’t want to get blood all over Codrin but this cut had been so stubborn. He needed extra help. But he really wasn’t sure where to get it from, either.

The gash was on his upper arm, a hard slice from an antler when he was wrangling a buck elk. He tried to doctor it himself, as most of his scars were self-medicated, but this one wouldn’t stop bleeding. Perhaps too deep, too nasty. He risked infection now, and was not intending to die by an antler strike. And so, into town he went in search of someone who might be brave enough, or nice enough, to offer the gargantuan some aide.

The entered Kaisermont, where he remained on top of Codrin lest he be driven out. He always felt like such an outcast, so this was awkward for him. He was unkempt, shirtless and dirty, torn trousers barely hanging on in tattered shreds about his knees. Barefoot, unbrushed shoulder length onyx hair. He was a sight, but one he wasn’t meant to be. He’d bathe later in the river or the lake, but for now he needed to get his arm bandaged or stitched or whatever was wrong with it. Steely ocean eyes scanned the crowd as they walked, some stopped to stare, others ignored the pair as they moved. Regardless, he was a sore thumb sticking out - and everyone knew it.

For Ekosha

Glacial sights were set upward towards the canvas painted in cerulean, blotted with white. Birds occasionally passing overhead as their assumed destination would be somewhere warmer with the encroaching autumn season just before winter would come ravaging the lands with more famine. Work in the clinic had been growing which Eko wanted to be thankful for, but in reality she knew that with the threat of war on the horizon, unfortunately meant for more trying times. Worry painted with evidence upon the crease of her brow as she took a sip of lukewarm coffee in the paper cup in one hand, a satchel of medicinal herbs in the other, slung over a shoulder. Alabaster curls were tied back messily in a make-shift bun where strands of hair still managed to escape the haphazard hold. Her mind elsewhere but the present. She wondered if Matt had answered to the demanding draft and it left an unsettling knot forming in the pit of her stomach. It was in that moment, Ekosha stopped herself in her tracks bewildered and her cheeks flushing a soft pink hue. No, no, he’s your patient. she would try to reason with herself. It only makes senses to be concerned because he’s your patient... right..? Ekosha cursed under her breath, bringing her freed palm to pinch the bridge of her nose as if to stave off either the evidence of wear or a forming migraine which often stemmed from the excessive amounts of caffine she took in. Moving onward, heading in the direction of her clinic, she nearly collided into a small crowd, “The hell—” she murmured under her breath, securing her satchel and cherished coffee. Standing on her tip toes she tried to peer over the shoulders of curious eyes, only to be met with fruitless defeat and swearing under her breath at her short form. With an agitated huff, she began to pry through the small crowd of five – maybe six while others continued onward as if their curiosities quickly died down. Frost eyes searched, finally finding the rather obvious target upon the large horse carelessly meandering down the street. She took another swallow of her coffee, freckled face scrunching ever slightly because her coffee was cold now – and ultimately making her way to the stranger, following the trail of blood that too followed them. “Hey!” she called out brazenly. “You’re causing a bit of a scene, stranger.” She placed a freed hand on her hip, tossing what little remained of her coffee in the nearest bin. “Clinics' right up ahead there to your left.” She motioned.

Jahi

A voice caused for Vali to turn his head over his shoulder. She claimed he was causing a scene, but he didn’t mean to. He said nothing to this as she motioned for him to go into a clinic. Hers maybe? He watched her for a moment before nodding, then nudging Codrin in the direction of the building. Just outside of it, he dismounted with a thud, wincing at the pain in his arm. He gave his steed a pat on his thick, ebony neck and whistled sharply, curtly. The horse’s ears twisted forward at the sound but the beast knew it meant to stay put.

Ocean eyes then shifted to look at the door of the place. Could he just walk in? A large hand placed on the handle of the door, slowly opening it as he took a look and a single step inside the doorframe. A feeling of being overwhelmed began to take him. He backed out and closed the door, looking down at his bare feet. The blood still ran from his wound but he couldn’t shake this feeling that he didn’t belong. Long, unkempt, raven hair fell over his bare shoulders as he moved back to his horse, where he felt safer. In reaction to his owner’s unease, Codrin curved his neck so that he enclosed Vali to him, a hug of sorts.

He grunted low, having decided he would wait on the woman before entering any building. Finally, his eyes wandered upward to see where she was, catching the curve of her hip and the purity of her locks - the ice of her eyes. She was beautiful, but seemed irritated by his presence already. He’d offer her food or materials as payment, he thought. Perhaps she’d have use of a few rabbits. Or maybe some fruit. He let another groan escape as he finally let his free hand hold his cut arm, wincing again at the pain.

He was a man of little words she noticed. It was no bother, and if anything she was accustom to the behavior. Matthias was the same when they first encountered one another. Eko wouldn’t press on the matter. All she saw was an injured individual that needed tending to. She watched with a slower gait as he merely continued on, the horse in a lazed trot. Perhaps the equine beast was just as weary and deserving of rest. She cast harden glowers to those of prying eyes as if to give a silent demand for them to mind their own. She would not engage right away, allowing the stranger to tread the waters at his own pace, watching the hesitation like that of an anxious child or an unsocialized dog placed in an unfamiliar setting. Ekosha took in his appeared. Unkempt, disheveled – one that did not dwell in the city settings or any communal environment. The wilds would be a more appealing setting, so what drove him here, she wondered? “Come on in,” she offered a little more amicably, gears shifting from a wandering citizen to a working physician pulling the door as she approached. “Looks infected from the smell of it.” she motioned with a dip of her head, referring to the wound on his arm. “So it’s not going to heal properly without getting it cleaned.” Ekosha stepped out of the way, extending the invite awaiting for his reaction and if he would oblige at all. “Once you’re patched up I’ll take a look at your horse too if you want.” she offered with a slanted smile. “Names’ Ekosha, I run this clinic. Don’t worry about payment today.”

Jahi

Ekosha.

He tested her name silently as she spoke, offering him the opportunity to come inside. He stroked down Codrin’s long face before he left his beloved friend outside, stalking easily inside the building now that she was there. Steely eyes looked around, soaking it in. It wasn’t familiar to him in a sense that he had been there before, but in a sense that his brief matron had once offered him a home somewhat like this. He would have lived there, and he would have learned. He quickly and violently shoved those thoughts out of his head as he looked to the woman now as she offered her services. For free, no doubt. This didn’t settle well with Vali, he wanted to try and have honor, to repay her knowing full and well she was often reimbursed for her knowledges. But without the proper words, he just nodded and showed her his arm.

He simply nodded to her words, and moved to sit in a nearby chair so that she didn’t have to reach so much to reach his much higher arm.

“Vali,”
He returned the normal introduction. He gestured to Codrin outside.
“Codrin,”
His friend always deserved recognition as well.
It was then he dared a look at her, his eyes unintentionally trailing the curves of her body and the round of her lip, the shine in her eye as she assessed her work so quickly and precisely. He swallowed, unused to the humanized world of society, his free hand finding the edges of the chair arm to fiddle with absentmindedly.
“Take rabbit?”
He was trying to ask if she would be fine with a rabbit carcass in exchange, even though he knew she said no payment today.
“Food,”
He attempted to clarify his meaning incase his gruff tones weren’t doing their job.

Waiting for him to take a seat, Eko promptly gathered the basics to clean and help stitch the wound close. An empty bowl of water was quickly filled with a flick of her wrist, a block of ice forming in a freed hand without batting an eye. She returned to her patient setting what tools and supply she gathered down on a small cart, waving away her staff to continue on their usual labors. It wasn’t the first time she tended to a patient in her lobby either. Vali. She assumed what the stranger addressed was his name before addressing the horse outside as Codrin. “Take it you and Codrin aren’t from around here, are you?” She asked casually, “Tell me about yourself, Vali.” She initated. Intentionally so to help keep his mind off of the discomfort as she worked. She pressed the small block of ice promptly and directly against the wound with the means to reduce the swelling so she could have a better look. Take rabbit? the queston caused her attention to break away from her work breify as she searched the rugged mans’ features. Her own expression blank, stoic. Food, The pieces then clicked together as she chuckle softly shaking her head. “Nope,” she declined with ease. It’d become easier to do whenever Matthias tried to pay her after one of his unconventional spells took hold of him. “That’s a form of payment and I already said don’t worry about it now, didn’t I?” Though she probably hadn’t had a decent meal in some time. She’d long lost count of however many times Matt told her that coffee wasn’t food. “Lift your arm a little more, just like that.” she motioned carefully. “This might sting a little but it’ll clean the wound.” she warned before apply the antiseptic

Jahi

Every instruction was followed as well as he could understand, ocean eyes watching her intently. She refused his form of payment, but she seemed quite skinny. He played with the idea of just cooking for her anyway. When she pointed out that he and Codrin weren’t from around the town’s parts, he agreed with the shake of his head.
"Woods,"
His free hand placed against his chest and continued.
"Wolf,"
He wasn’t sure if it would deter his services by her, but he wasn’t one for lying.
"Cook stew, you eat."
He nodded along with his proclamation. He had rabbits, a few wild veggies to add to it and a strip of thyme in his satchel across Codrin. It was for him later - but he would feel horrible for receiving her works and not be repaid. He simply wouldn’t allow it.

When she forewarned him it would sting, and it did, he bared his teeth in response but didn’t move his arm. He knew the cut was deep. He nodded again, a low growl emitting before he spoke again.
"Elk. Took down, but … at camp,"
He began to struggle with his words and putting them together. It always frustrated him but he simply waved it off. He wasn’t trying to ruin the mood in Ekosha’s clinic, she was being very nice to him and he would repay her in kind.

Whether she liked it or not.

Her head would tilt slightly offering an ear to ensure she was listening as she worked as quickly and efficiently to clean the wound. Woods. Came the strangers grunt. Ekosha nodded familiar with the concept of many living out in the wilds versus the city. Wolf. Her glacial sights flitted back to him without a second to beat. The wound she was tending to was already showing signs of its mending. A trait, she had learned over time, that many werewolves possessed. “That makes sense.” She shrugged nonchalantly. Proof that she was unbothered by this fortunate or unfortunate curse he bore. It mattered not if he was a lycan, human and rare occasions a vampire ( so long as she wasn’t on the menu,) Ekosha would provide her aid wherever it was requested. Cook stew, you eat. A pale brow arched as she looked to him, disparagingly. She declined him once already and could feel the words forming once more. She never did like repeating herself. Elk. Took down, but… at camp. "I already told you I don’t want payment.” she inisisted a little more brazenly. “I just want to help.” she huffed, reaching for the bandages to wrap his arm. “If you want to give anyone food, try the orphanage or those who have been affected by the recent battles. I’m sure they could use it more anyway.” She felt her teeth graze the inside of her cheek finding her mind wander to the whereabout of Matthias in all this. However, she quickly shook her head and shoved such thoughts back into the depths of her mind. It shouldn’t matter. Matt could take care of himself, right? Who was she to dwell on his well-being of all things? “Can take a look at Codrin for you too if you like.” She offered. “People aren’t the only ones that need the appropriate care too,” she offered a half smile, motioning towards the wrap of guaze around his arm. “Should heal in no time now that it’s been clean and you take care of course.”

Jahi