Fade

[Lion]

Shit

The curse echoed in his mind as he finally let go of the breath he was holding.  Rook was waiting in the trees, not on the ground like he was accustomed too.  This particular hunting season was scarcer than usual and was trying his patience, but he was willing to try anything to get this kill.  If he could nab the moose as it wandered quietly through the underbrush, it would make up for an entire month's worth of nothing.

Rook held his bow at half-draw as he watched the animal move through the thickness of trees, his massive antlers twisting with the curious movement of his head as he peered all around him.  Another breath, he held it in and pulled the bow back, carefully and with every increment he could manage without alerting the creature below.    He had to adjust his position on the branch he was perched on and used his hips to move him toward a better vantage point.

He'd wrapped twine around his limbs and stuffed various leaves into them to better guise him as part of the canopy above.  Shit! his mind cursed once more when the branch gave a creak and the moose suddenly perked up, alert at the noise.  In that instant, those curses nearly became a reality in his shorts.

The branch gave an angry snap and Rook yelped all at once when he fell from the tree and landing on his ankle hard on the ground.  He heard a crack somewhere, unsure if it came from his body or the branch as it landed beside him.   "Goddammit!" he growled, peering down at his ankle and feeling it grow numb.  The numbness wouldn't last long though.

But that was currently the least of his worries.  His bow had fallen a considerable distance from his grasp.  And he was now confronted by a very ticked off moose.

Rook released a breath of annoyance.  "Lovely," he grumbled.

[Catchmyfallingtears]

Laraya wondered quietly through the trees, her hand holding a small bag as she situated a bundle of dark red flowers inside of it. The healer had wondered away from her humble abode in hoes of replenishing her stores of healing herbs before she gained an influx of hunters who grew more daring each year during their hunt and landed themselves right in her cabin whining about broken bones and cuts.

Her head perked up as the sound of a heavy branch hit the ground not too far ahead of where she was standing. It was then that it registered that she had heard a human voice in with the crashing sound and her feet moved quickly to the scene. "This isn't good."She mumbled as she took in the hunter laying on the ground and a very angry moose in front of him. Very quickly she took a few steps closer hoping that her aura would at least calm the beast ahead of her. "What a great situation you have gotten your self into."She said quietly to the man as she stepped closer and started to make soothing sounds towards the beast.

Normally animals like rabbits and foxes would come and place them selves right next to the small woman without her trying as she attracted them. Bigger animals though where more inclined to just leave her be. She just hoped that she wouldn't get herself hurt in the process of helping the unknown man.

[Lion]

The moose was livid and extremely territorial to this stranger that had suddenly invaded it's roving grounds.  Rook himself was pressed as deeply into the floor as best he could and didn't want to make any sudden movements that would send the beast charging.  Instinctively, his hand reached for the large, long hunting knife that was strapped to his thigh and the animal breathed dangerously as he did so.

That was until another stranger suddenly happened upon the scene.  Rook held his breath until his lungs hurt.  He frowned at her words, biting his lip to hold back his irritation and he watched with wary eyes as the woman merely sauntered forth and had the gall to put her hands on the giant creature.  "What are you doing!?" he growled at her.  "Get away from here before you get hurt, you idiot!" 

He quickly reached for his knife again, pulling it out from the sheath and the moose only grew angrier.  It shifted its body as if it were to charge at him and gore him with its antlers.  But it seemed the only thing staying its wrath was the strange woman's touch.

[Catchmyfallingtears]

"Put that damn thing out of sight." Laraya said as she looked back at the man for a split second. Her olive complected hand lightly touched the large animals side as she went back to softly speaking to the creature. "It's okay, he isn't going to hurt you."she soothed gently.

Her mind was racing as she tried to think of a plan to fix this if the animal did charge the stupid man behind her. She was carrying a few useful things but nothing that could fix a man who had been rammed through by the beast she was attempting to calm. "Try to look a little less intimidating."She said as she glanced back at the man before looking back at the creature. "Don't worry about him, he won't hurt you, I'll get him out of here."she said as she tried to urge the animal to go on and go about his business.

[Lion]

"Like hell I am," he muttered.  But when the moose gave a start toward him, Rook visibly jumped and he let go of the knife in his hand, letting it rest uneasily as he watched the creature, staring him straight in the eye.  The moose grunted and funally relaxed enough.  He chuffed disinterestedly and turned his head away.  He finally gave up and was soothed enough to go about his business, eventually trotting along the path he'd come.

Rook laid there still, as there was no real way he could move, and clutch the knife in his hand again.  He sheathed in and glared up at the stupid woman.  "That was my kill," he growled.  "Who are you anyway?  You always wander the woods, turning moose away?"

[Catchmyfallingtears]

"Loose the attitude if it wasn't for me you would have been maimed if not even killed." She said as she walked closer to the man and crossed her arms. "Besides even had you have killed him you still would have been stuck seeing as how you are hurt and then you would have had it attracting much more violent creatures to you." Very carefully she knelt down next to him, her hand resting lightly on the knife tucked I her belt, a habit that had grown whenever the redhead was ever around a man.

"If you want I could leave you here or I could help you." She said after she took a deep breath and calmed herself. Her voice was quieter now, softer, much more like the healer she was. Her blue green eyes looked up at him and she tried to give him a hesitant smile. "I am sorry for scaring away your prey."

[Lion]

All his wounded pride from having fallen from the tree in the first place made him blush with shame and he averted her gaze.  He peered instead at his ankle and could barely, with great effort, actuallt move his toes. When he tried to move his ankle, he turned red in the face from holding in a scream he didn't want to emit.  Soon he gave up and looked at her with troubled eyes and a beaded forehead.

"What could you possibly do for me?" he grumbled, looking down at his ankle once again.  "Make my ankle just magically heal itself?  I don't suppose that dagger in your belt you're favoring would be able to answer would it?" he asked warily.

[Catchmyfallingtears]

She flinched slightly at his words but didn't say anything for a few moments. Very carefully she removed her hand from her knife,blushing slightly as she did so, and reached out and tugged up his pant leg carefully. "Can you move your toes?" She asked quietly as she looked up at him."I can't heal this with magic but I am a healer with herbs and knowledge of the body." She glanced around and saw her bag that she had dropped once she saw the scene before her a few moments ago. "I can give you something for the pain and see if I can get it bound."

[Lion]

He really,  REALLY didn't want her help!  But he also really REALLY had no choice.  So Rook decided he could choose between two things: tell her to go away, mope and possibly die (he was favoring this option all the more) or be could be patched up by some strange woman who'd probably want payment of some kind as a result of it.  Nothing in life was free after all.

Rook sighed and adjusted himself so he could sit up more.  "I can," he said with a bleak nod.  "But I don't think this place is the best place to tend to it. I'm too esposed.  Gotta find cover first.  Help me up then."

[Catchmyfallingtears]

She nodded slightly then moved to help him stand moving one of his arms over her shoulder and wrapping her arm around his waist. Her body tensed considerably as his body touched against hers in even the slightest way like this."M-my cabin isn't too far away if we can get there I will have more to work with."She said hesitantly. She tilted her head slightly to look at him to gauge his response.

She could tell that the man didn't want her help and knew it was male pride that was causing his internal battle. Any hunter would have been embarrassed to have such a small woman come to his rescue but most felt slightly less bad once they learned of her ability to calm animals.

[Lion]

Rook grunted with a great deal of effort and almost passed out from doing so.  He leaned a little more heavily on her.  It wasn't just male pride, but pride as a hunter.  But it didn't really matter anymore did it.  He had a wounded ankle, probably broken, as it were and he wasn't really in any position to complain.

"All right, just call me Hopalong," he said, with a pained but trying smile.  "Lead me on."

[Catchmyfallingtears]

She chuckled slightly at his joke. "I'll have you fixed up in no time." She said as she carefully lead him towards her cabin. "Do you mind me asking exactly what happened?" She carefully helped him make his way around a fallen log and bit back a small curse as her knee connected with the edge of the log. It was a small joke about how clumsy the petite healer was. 

[Lion]

"I-I don't but...it's pretty stupid really.  You can laugh if you want to, I don't mind.  But I was trying to hunt...from a tree.  I guess I overestimated my weight and the branch snapped!  Right before I could fire my arrow.  I had the perfect shot too!  I suppose that's what scholars would call um...poetic justice," he said with a trying laugh.  The cabin was slowly coming into sight and it became more and more exhausting to walk every step.  "What's your name by the way?"

[Catchmyfallingtears]

Laraya couldn't stop the soft laugh that escaped her lips at his story. "I guess the moose had good reason to be upset with you then." She said as she carefully lead him up to the door. "I'm Laraya Templar." She carefully pushed open the door and lead him inside to the small bed situated to the back of the common room. "What's your name?" Carefully she lowered him onto the bed then rubbed at her back that was sore from supporting his weight. She then quickly moved to start a fire in the cook stove so as to heat up some salves to help his ankle.

[Lion]

Rook quirked a brow at her and made a bit of a face.  But it would have been difficult for her to see at that angle regardless.  He chuckled and gave a soft sigh of relief when they reached her cabin at last.

He found repsite upon the small bed and gave a grunt when he extended his leg.  It was going to be quite a chore to remove his boot without disturbing the wound.  But it was in his best interest to cut through the soft leather...even if he really did like these boots.  He worked up his trouser leg, rolling it to his knee and started to push the boot down little by little.

"Huh?  Oh my name...  I suppose I don't really have a name," he admitted with a frown.  "Not a proper one I mean.  I'm called Rook.  Just Rook."

[Catchmyfallingtears]

Laraya finished sparking the fire relatively quickly before moving back over to the man. Very carefully she moved his hands away and with the expertise of a healer she very carefully removed his boot. "That's a nice name." Seaside with a slight smile as she glanced up at him. She then started to gently look over his foot and feel around his ankle with light fingers.

[Lion]

She was cleverer than he, that was for sure.  At least in the process of removing his boot with the least amount of pain possible. He winced a little and grimaced upon seeing the  wound.  His ankle was swollen and obviously broken.  It would need to be set and set properly and Rook frowned deeper at the thought.  "How long?" he asked.  "Do you think it'd take to heal?"

[Catchmyfallingtears]

Laraya didn't say anything for a few moments as she cataloged all the damage that she could see and feel as she gingerly felt along his ankle. "It could take a few months."She said after a moment as she looked up at him from where she knelt by his feet. "I'll have to set and bind it and you will have to take it very easy at first." she then stood after another moment and moved to drop a few bright colored herbs into the pot of water above the fire. "This will help with the pain, if you want to try your luck with a magic healer I understand and I can try to find one in town for you."

[Lion]

Rook shook his head.  "Magic is useful, but they always want something in return.  Trade-offs, y'know.  Something about the equal exchange of energy or some nonsense like that.  I'll take the pain concoction," he made a face at the thought and peered over at her.  "So I'm going to be an invalid for a few months...that won't be good.  So what...I'm going to wander the forest for all that time or...stay here with you?  I'm not expecting such generosity, but I can't very well hunt with a broken ankle."

[Catchmyfallingtears]

Laraya nodded and carefully stirred the mixture in the pot as the thought. "I can house you for that time if you would do something for me in return when you heal up."She said pausing for a moment as she moved to a set of shelves and stood on her tiptoes to reach a glass vile of something a light amber color. "I have a few herbs that don't grow close to home and if you could gather some when you are out hunting around this area and bring them to me that would help me greatly." She then carefully removed the pot and ladled some of the liquid into a simple glass and mixed some of the amber liquid in with it.