A Stranger In Need [Recruitment]

The sire’s heart sinks at the reaction, but something new in his chest tightens when watching the dam limp away. His paws twitch as he digs his claws into the ground for a moment–though frustrated, Sunnywink swallows his pride to approach the dam once more. His tail twitches cautiously as he calls after her,

“Hey!” he calls, “Can we try again? I can’t just watch you leave with that wound–”

The sapphire dam hisses in warning, but Sunnywink refuses to be deterred a second time. “Herbs,” Her flattened ears twitch ever so slightly. “You don’t need to stay, just… let me give you something for the bleeding.”

The yellow sire readily interprets her stalled pawsteps as acceptance. He trots over to press his shoulder against her short blue fur. To his surprise, she leans into him with a pained huff. The sour smell of infection hits him when he’s this close, and Sunnywink leads her further into the city in a tentative silence…

Trailing plants conceal an archway of crumbling, red stone. He parts the ivy with a white paw to reveal a cramped interior of dripping ceilings, aromatic herbs, and… yes, a cardboard box. He leaves the dam to settle near the driest-looking corner and watch him tug dried stems and petals from knots in the ivy vine, before scraping the herbs against a stone into a uniform poultice for application.

“Something all-purpose before you leave,” he mews as he presses the stinging goop onto the dam’s wound, “I can only do so much in one night.”

The dam sets her chin onto her paws, yawning. Something about this den’s herbal scent is soothing. “Maybe…just one more night, then."