Pol shook her head as she traversed her homeland. The sight of Denocte in the morning was enough to make her smile. There was an air of emotions wrapping the aquatic mare as she walked, excitement and anxiety dancing through her like reef fish through corals. Excitement, because she finally felt like she was where she belonged. She had someone willing to teach her further how to heal and how to move forward into becoming the doctor that she hoped to become.
At the same time, Pol was anxious. What if she disappointed the elder healer? Would she be able to be useful? The young mare had to pause and take a few deep breaths on her way, lavender eyes closed tightly against the feat that was trying to swamp her. Breathing slowly, she shoved the emotions deep within her heart.
With a final deep breath, Pol pushed forward and made certain that she was on the correct path. Approaching the building that she had been directed to, the little mare knocked and waited patiently for the other mare.
"Luvena? It is Polar North..." She called loud enough for the other mare to hear, that way she knew who was coming and that it wasnt an emergency.
The stars are alive, child! Did you know that? Everything out there is alive, and there are grand purpose abroad!
Winter had proven to be as difficult as she’d expected. The temperature in Denocte had cooled off significantly, leaving the ground frozen and hard. Some of the stalls in the night market had closed for the season, their vendors understandably unwilling to stand out in the weather to sell their wares.
Her little one room home was not much warmer, with no fires lit to stave off the cold. In the day she let sunlight filter in to warm the room, but at night she covered the window, trying to keep in all the heat she could. At night the leonbergers curled in beside her, all covered in various furs and pelts she had acquired from the market.
As with every winter sickness had crept into peoples homes, and she found her little healers den was busier then it had been all year. Her own illness was worse in the winters too, and she found herself coughing and feverish most of the time, but working through it near constantly to keep up with patients, and saving most of her herbs for them as well, worried that her stores would not last the season.
Luvena rose quickly at the knock, overjoyed to hear the young mares light voice. Stifling a cough she opened the wooden door, gesturing for the girl to come in. “I was wondering when you’d stop by” she greeted her. “How did that feverfew do for you? Hopefully it worked well enough to dull the worst of it.”
Pol beamed as the door opened to show the older mare. There was a soft spot in her heart already for the other healer and it showed in her reaction. "It did help, much better than others that I have tried. Still sore at times, but much more bearable." She answered as she looked at the other mare closer. She had heard the stifled cough and it sent a pang of worry though her.
"How are you?" She asked carefully, not wanting to offend but genuinely curious if she could help Lu feel better as she had done for the young mare. As she waited for a response, she took a moment to glance around her. Questions bubbled within her as she fought to maintain composure. Why no fire? What could she do to help? She had a small selection of various herbs in a bag with her, just in case they were needed. Nothing magical or rare, just your basic medicines.
Pol turned back to Lu and smiled, waiting patiently for words. Her ravaged tail wrapped around her back leg as well as it could, the warmth from her body easing some of the stiffness that was never-ending.
"Speaking"
@Luvena Notes: So sorry about delay love!! <3
She paused at hearing it was still sore. Knowing it was better than nothing. But it was that healers itch to fix it. It was a faulty mindset, and one that given her own state she should have been well and truly over. She moved to the shelves on her wall, pushing jars aside until she found one full of mint. Quickly grinding it into a paste, mixing it with just a bit of oil she had purchased from the market until it had thinned out, and tipping it into an empty bottle.
“This might do better. In combination. I’m not sure why I didn’t think of it the other day. Not to eat mind you. Just to rub over the area, as needed.” She gestured to the now full bottle on the counter. “Mint is rather… invasive, so as long as you learn to make this - its rather simple - it’s easy to get in a pinch”
She gave a soft smile to the girl. “Oh I’m alright” She replied gently. “This winter hasn’t been a gentle one though. Not on the people of the night court.” Luvena chanced a quick glance at her shelves. Where most of the jars sat empty. She hadn’t really been in any condition to go gather them herself, already running herself ragged here, and even if she had there was scarcely anything to find. She didn’t manage to stifle the next fit of coughs.
It had been hard on her as well. With hardly enough to treat her patients she’d not been taking any of her stores for herself, and working through every fever and headache, trying to find a way to stretch what stores she did have. Today she was feeling well enough. In comparison at least. She was still hot to the touch, but her head was clear for a day, and she didn’t ache down to her bones.
“Not on me either” she finished as she finally caught her breath. “But never you mind that, you’re here to learn. And so learn you shall.” She moved back to the shelves. “How many of these do you recognize?”
Pol watched the other mare as she moved, seeing the desire to make it all better as it swept over her and made her move. There was that push in her heart as well. When the mare handed the bottle to her, Pol nodded and smiled. "I will definitely try it. I dont know that I would have thought of the mint"
Pol nodded as she listened to the other mare's response, though she frowned slightly. "Is there anything I can do? I have some stores that I can share with you if they help..." She said softly, willing to go seeking supplies even. She had one seller that was usually fairly good at having a decent supply of more mundane herbs.
Pol followed the mare to the shelves and gazed at the bottles. She frowned again at the low levels in some of the more common bottles. "Feverfew... Lavender... Chamomile... Peppermint... Sage?" She pointed at bottles as she spoke, seeing many that she wasnt certain on. Pol found that scent was better than sight when it came to being certain as to what she was looking at. Her own supplies were usually tied with special knots and colors of string to make it easier to tell.
She nodded in approval, while drawing the curtains aside for the day“Truth be told I don’t think I would have if I weren’t so low on everything else. Meadowsweet would be better..” She hoped Polar North would be alright in here too. The room wasn’t exactly warm. While Luvena was cold, at the moment this was probably better for her anyways than curling up under pelts and raising her temperature any higher than it was. But she worried that for her friend it would cause her tail to flare up even worse than the winter already had it doing. She gestured to the pelts on her bed. “Help yourself to one of those if you get to cold”She offered raspily. It had come with the cough, and she hadn’t been able to shake it out of her voice. It cut through the regularly gentle cadence, making her sound more gruff than usual.
Her ears dropped slightly at the question, and she took in a deep breath. “Any stores are appreciated, but unless you have an unending supply of feverfew” She glanced too the jar, which only held a few leaves, “Or olive leaf… It won’t be enough to keep the stocks going through the rest of the winter. I can always use an extra set of hooves though. I’m…”She sighed, the stubborn part of her unwilling to give in, but the rest of her desperate for a break. “Tired”she finished finally, her words punctuated with another stifled cough.
Eager to change the tone of the conversation, she nodded along. “Good” she started.“Even with those few herbs you can do a whole lot of good. Feverfew is versatile, as you now know” recalling their previous encounter. She could have done with some herself. “Lavender and chamomile have proven oddly useful this winter. Mostly to ease the anxiety of family of patients. Sage for your common winter bugs… You may have gathered that mostly I treat illness… but on ocassion people come with injuries, and you’d be surprised how far a little seawater can take you. Thankfully that’s something I almost never run out of” She paused, trying to give the taller mare a moment to absorb what she was throwing at her. “And how have you fared all winter?”
Pol listened to the explanation with a nod, knowing how it was to have to improvise due to low stocks. At the comment regarding a pelt, Pol frowned. "Are you cold? I can start a fire..." She remarked, at ease in the cooler temperatures due to her birth. But her mentor's raspy voice was worrying her as she kept an eye on the other mare.
Listening to the wise words of her mentor again, the younger mare paused and pulled out the jars that she did have with her. "Not unending, but I do have a bit of feverfew. I also have chamomile, mint, ginger root, and a little bit of valerian root. If they will help." She answered as she placed her satchels of herbs on a free space on the shelf. "I can always bring more of what I have, and my hooves are yours." She said warmly as she fought the urge to nuzzle the older mare. There was a part of her that wondered if this was what it was like to have a mother... Not that she had any idea personally. She didnt remember her own mother.
Pol nodded as she listened to the mare's description of the herbs that she had recognized. "Sea water helped a ton when I was helping a... stallion... to heal after a shark attack. He was the first that I healed in any form. It was a bit of a learning curve to say the least." Pol laughed as she remembered her fumbles and attempts to help the bull that had become a dear friend in the time that they had been together. She had even become rather smitten with the bull for a while, though he had never seemed to feel the same.
"The feverfew has helped a bit, and I have been trying to learn all I can. Hard to believe that days pass sometimes." Pol replied, thinking of how much she had been trying to cram into her brain over the last few months.
She jerked her head up, far more quickly than she would have liked. “No!” she refused, also far more quickly than she would have liked. “No” she stated again, more calmly this time, whilst taking a deep breath. She was scrambling for an excuse, some sort of justification. One other than admitting how deeply the idea of a fire simmering inside the stone house terrified her. Even now she had to stop herself from breathing too quickly with panic. She shook her head. “I’ve been feverish all day. The heat would do me more bad than good” Why that admittance was easier than the other she couldn’t explain. It was true. But that wasn't the real reason.
She tried to steady her heart rate again while listening to her apprentice. “Those are helpful. Thank you” she murmured gratefully. Touching her nose briefly to Polar’s neck. “Start putting those away will you?” “Hmm. The first patient is always the hardest” she agreed. “But the most rewarding. Mine was a girl back home. Just about my age at the time. Both of us still a little younger than you are. She had come down with strangles, her family couldn’t afford a healer willing to deal with it. My parents were murderous when they found out” she laughed, though her tone dropped just a touch. Rightfully so to be frank. It was highly contagious, and she had been extremely fortunate not to catch it herself.
She nodded. “They seem to be dragging by this year” she agreed. She glanced out the window and realized that the sun had far passed its height. And realized she was late opening the door of the clinic. Quietly she crept over to the door and peaked through the peephole. Already there were a few people lined up outside. She looked back at Pol. “we’d better get to work then” she started before opening the door and ushering in the first patient.
@”Polar North”
OOC: Figure maybe after pol responds to the above here, then we can fast forward to after the clinic has closed again for the day?
Pol jerked in surprise at the adamant no, listening to her mentor’s words as she tried to understand the quick reaction. There was something under the words that she couldn’t put her hoof on. She could understand the fever making her anxious, but at the same time she wanted to help. "Have you tried yarrow tea or anything for the fever?" Pol asked gently, trying to remember different remedies for fever.
"Of course. Anything I can do to help, I am more than willing. I can stop by my favorite merchant tomorrow and bring more." She said warmly, smiling at the other mare’s touch to her cool neck. There was a part of her that wondered if close proximity to her mists would help to cool Lu. She moved quickly to put away the herbs and make everything neat and clean.
"I was alone. I had left the healer that had saved my life and wanted to try to find Bella... I came across Trey as he was resting on the beach and couldn’t help but help him. It was a challenge, since a shark is what did the damage to my tail and the bull was a shark hybrid." Pol laughed softly, the bull’s image and his smile crossing her mind as she thought of their first meetings.
At her mentor’s urging, Pol nodded and let herself slip into healer mode. She worked efficiently and purposefully beside her mentor, glad to be learning new tricks and more about her chosen trade.
"Speaking"
@Luvena Notes: I am totally good with that <3
She shook her head, finally steadying herself properly. “Not enough to go around” she replied truthfully. “I haven’t taken a thing for myself all winter” and she was suffering for it.
“That must have been hard” she murmured. “But we do what we have to. You know you have a healers strength when you can manage that”
The rest of the day was spent hurrying about, pulling what she had from shelves, stretching some of the herbs by mixing water into the salves, making them runnier than usual. She’d instruct Pol here and there, telling her what to mix into lotions, or package for every patient. Most were in for colic, or cough. The typical winter ailments. A few had minor injuries.
This is what had been neverending all winter. A constant stream of patients in and out. Finally she hurried the last one out, gently closing the door behind them. Immediately she dropped her head with a sigh, as she could hear the pounding between her ears. Taking a deep breath she looked back up at Polar North. “You handled that well” she praised her. “This is what I mean when I said it’s busy. Hopefully it’ll calm down in the spring. I hope I could teach you something? I don’t want you coming here to be a waste of your time.”
