:lavanya:

[r y n t h a e]

Sunlight filtered down through the reaching leaves of the overgrown forest, filling the ground floor with soft light. A breeze ruffled through, the sound of aspen leaves like ethereal music. A young man with soft, blue-green eyes and tawny blond hair was knelt among the undergrowth, his slender form bent over, a small silvery knife held in one hand, and a basket in the other. The basket was already half-way full of different flowers and sprigs of varied herbs, and he was in the process of carefully removing the rosehips from a wild rose, dropping each into the basket as if it were precious.

He hummed softly to himself as he worked, mind wandering as a slight smile lit up his features. His garden at home had been really taking off, and foraging for these wild herbs only added extra to his supply of healing, tea, and culinary herbs. Doing this, he felt like he was truly of some use to his group, the Cuori Aperti, rather than an outsider or a burden, as he had originally feared that he might be. He wondered, faintly, if his parents would be proud to see him making his way in the world. He had finally found a place that he could call happily call home for the rest of his life, and offer his talents as a healer.

Getting back up, he dusted off his jeans momentarily before walking over to a new area where a group of lavender plants had caught his interest.

[Monday]

C O L E

A fluttering of wings could be heard above, and seemingly out of nowhere a shadow soared over forest. The bird gracefully tore through the sky, flapping its wings to keep itself afloat. Pale yellow eyes scanned the treetops noting the gaps and spaces of the leaves. With an angled twist of its head, the bird changed its direction. Gaining impressive speed from going down, the bird flew trough one of the gaps, but surprisingly kept going, not bothering to stop its plunder. To anyone who might of been looking they must of thought the bird was mad as it was headed straight towards the ground with no hesitation or will to stop.
The Raven kept gliding down with such precision and accuracy, when it finally reached couple feet of the ground, it began to morph with impressive speed. Feathers were replaced with smooth and wispy brown fur with dark specks on top, the beak changed into a long and elegant muzzle, it grew tremendously in the transformation, and right before it hit the two sets of paw prints appeared supporting its weight on the ground with ease. A slightly small wolf took the Raven's place, as it kept moving on the ground slowly loosing speed and eventually coming to a halt.

Cole didn't like being in his wolf form for long periods of time as it will affect his personality and make him agitated and angry, but he enjoyed walking trough the forest and the sight wasn't all that appealing from above. So he decided to take a short stroll like this.
He had effectively walked a few yards or so when he heard it. It was light at first, making him doubt he heard anything at all, but the wolfs ears didn't lie and when he payed closer attention he was sure.
Humming, he had heard humming.
Cole new he should turn around and walk the other way, he wasn't good with socializing and wasn't planning on practicing anytime soon, but it appeared the wolf had other plans. Altough he tried to stop it, paw steps walked into the direction of the humming, careful not to make any noise and attract unnecessary attention. After passing by some trees and bushes Cole stopped behind a thick fallen long when strong smells of plants and herbs assaulted the poor wolfs nose, the scent was strong meaning they had been freshly picked. He peered over the long curiously, and in the distance he could make out the form of a male, human, who appeared to be picking some sort of herbs.
Golden eyes peered at the human, watching from a distance, he wanted to get closer, so he made the mistake of jumping over the log. Thick forest leaves were crushed on impact from his heavy pads, the crunching wasn't overly loud but the sound still traveled.
Cole stared wide eyed, he knew he was caught.

[r y n t h a e]

A rustling noise from behind Esqyn caught his attention instantly, and he turned quickly, reminding himself in a bit of panic that this was a forest.... animals carrying the Disease might be here. Without thinking about it, his body had changed as he swirled to face the intruder, basket and knife both discarded on the ground. Tawny fur had sprouted from his skin in a matter of mere moments, face lengthening into a muzzle as four paws dug into the ground, rather than two feet. As a coyote, Esqyn was hardly a match in size for Cole at all. He wondered worriedly if maybe he should have just abandoned a day's worth of valuable herbs and flown off as a kestrel. Glancing worriedly over at his basket, he couldn't help it. He wanted to be dependable, for the Cuori Aperti, and coming home empty-handed was not the way to do that.

Turning back to face the wolf that had just entered, his ears lowered faintly, head bowed in a slightly submissive gesture, as if to convey that he wasn't very threatening, and wasn't looking for a challenge. Even as he did this, to try to smooth out a potential fight, he watched the wolf closely. The wolf seemed alert, and his eyes were bright and clear; he didn't look like a carrier for the Disease. Even so, Esqyn tried to play it safe. He gave a soft, apologetic whine, as if to say, "I'm sorry, if this is your territory.... I didn't know...." He glanced faintly to the side, as if offering to leave.

[Monday]

C O L E

Cole was caught off guard too say the least, the speed and unexpectedness in which the other morphed threw him for a loop as he, to put it bluntly, stared.
He's a shifter....like me.
In mere moments a coyote took the place of the human, no, shape shifter. Cole was obviously larger, even for a small wolf like himself, but he wasn't looking for a fight, not even close.
He noticed the way the coyote kept glancing at his fallen basket, before looking back at him.
The whine and submissive gestures snapped Cole back into his mind. He doesn't know im a shifter, that's why he like that.

Cole wasn't too fond of changing in front of people, even if it was quick he just hated being watched. With quick paw steps to the right, he hid behind a thick tree, successfully covering most of his body. The wolf went on its hind legs and began to change rapidly, fur was replace with light skin and hands and feet came from paws.
Once the transformation was finished, the young adult awkwardly stepped from the cover of the tree, he lifted his hand to scratch at his curly head when he winced, reminding himself of a harsh bruise he had gotten on his back shoulder blade.
"No wonder, that's why to wolf wanted to get closer, he smelled the herbs and knew i needed some."
Pale green eyes stared at the stranger, for a moment before speaking.
"Sorry about that, i just, i smelled the herbs and uhh." The boy trailed off uncomfortably, he didn't really know what to say in situations like these.



----
Thoughts
"Speaking"

[r y n t h a e]

Esqyn ears perked up in relief, a faint wag of his tail evident as he shifted back into his human form, running a hand through his blonde hair. He was used to shifting in front of people, and not as self-conscious about it after having seen the painful and forced transformation of therians. In some ways, he considered his abilities as a gift; in such a radiation-soaked world, the changes to his body long-term were more natural and didn't cause him agony, or hurt others.

"I'm sorry," he told the boy, with an apologetic smile. "It can be dangerous around these parts, with potential carriers around... and I didn't recognize you as a shifter at first." He held out a hand; "I'm Esqyn, by the way. And don't worry about it -- no harm done."

The young man's movements caught Esqyn's attention, though. He instantly picked up on Cole's wince -- he seemed to be in pain when he moved his arm, although the arm itself was unharmed. Perhaps he'd been hurt somewhere on his back... near the shoulder-blades most likely? Expression softening into mild concern, the blonde asked, "Are you hurt? I'm a healer -- maybe I can help."

[Monday]

C O L E

"Its alright, i shouldn't of been sneaky like that in the first place"
Cole tried his best at a reassuring smile which might of come out more forced than he liked, with a step forward he accepted the others hand and greeted him.
"Cole" He stated simply, and after a moments thought "Nice to meet you."
The clearing was nice, peaceful. It made him sad too think even such a place like this hold dangers.

The blonde man must of seen his wince, as he noted the light concern in his face and his offer for help.
Should i say yes? I don't know if i can trust him...but there's no way i can fly far with a bruise like that...
Reaching a decision the shifter smiled uncomfortably, and accepted help.
"I ran into a little trouble when i was flying as a Raven, and hurt my wing, which i guess turns out to be my shoulder blade. Not really a big deal, just a bruise" Cole reached behind him to pat the bruise to show his words were true, he was greeted with a sharp sting. The young man scrunched up his face and let out a small gasp of pain. Which he quickly tried to disguise it with a smile, and an awkward laugh. "Uhh, so what do i do?"



----
Thoughts
"Speaking"

[r y n t h a e]

Esqyn frowned lightly, worried. The wound must be worse than Cole let on, the way that he was reacting to it. He reached into his basket, separating out some arnica, comfrey, willow bark, and ginger and setting them aside in the other part of the basket. "A bruise or sprain, I'm guessing... from the way you're reacting to it. The skin isn't broken, is it?"

Kneeling, Esqyn shifted some of the flora in his basket around, revealing a small mortar and pestel, a heavy-duty looking metal water bottle hanging from a carabiner, a lighter, some fabric, and bandages that looked as if they might be home-made. He got started, wishing he might've brought better tools with him. Typically he didn't leave anywhere empty-handed, but even so, it might've been easier if he'd had other things with him.

"An arnica and comfrey hot compress will speed up healing, since the initial damage is already done. I'll stir up a tea from some willow and ginger to help, too. That should relieve most of the pain." As he spoke, the blonde cleared a circle of dirt in front of him, using one foot, and pulled some branches from the undergrowth, breaking them up and tossing them into a pile in the cleared area. After he had a few, he grabbed some dried pineneedles and grass to add to his pile, and with the help of the lighter, soon had a very, very small fire going. Another stick held the water bottle up by the carabiner, as he held it over the fire, waiting for it to boil.

[Monday]

C O L E

The young man watched curiously as the other reached into his basket and began to take out a multitude of various plants. Some which Cole had no idea what they even were.
"To be honest, i have no idea. Haven't got a good look at it yet."
It was true, he was fine when he left his house that morning, and since he was going to be flying, he couldn't take his rucksack with him. Which held some pretty useful supplies, that would've of come in handy.
I guess i was lucky i found a healer. That's quite a bit of supplies he has though, all for him? Doesn't seem likely, maybe he's in a group...

Esqyn's voice brought his attention back, and now that Cole thought about it, he had a really nice voice. The shifter closed his eyes for a moment, listening to the blonde man but not really hearing what he had to say. Was it creepy? Probably, but the other shifter seemed to distracted to notice.

With a sigh Cole gripped the bottom of his loose white shirt, he had left his usual cardigan at home, it was a nice day today and he wanted to enjoy the weather. Carefully he brought the shirt up, exposing his navel, and then bent over slightly shrugging the rest of it off. Wincing every time it brushed against his bruise.
He craned his neck back trying to get a good look, but all he saw was blotches of purple and red, but if he had to guess it was an ugly bruise about the size of his palm.

He crouched next to Esqyn uncomfortably, and placed his tee shirt on the ground. His light skin formed goosebumps at being exposed to the air, but the heat from the boiling water made them go away. He rubbed his arm awkwardly and gathered the courage to speak.
"You said you were a healer...like, for a group?"


----
Thoughts
"Speaking"

[r y n t h a e]

Esqyn gave a small, reassuring smile, hoping to quell the other boy's discomfort. "That's right," he told him. Taking the bottle of now-boiling water away from the fire, he carefully tipped a small amount of water into his mortar, leaving the rest in the bottle. He added white willow bark, ginger, and, after a moment's thought, some lavender into the bottle to start the tea. The lavender should sweeten it a bit, since I don't have any sugar on me, he thought to himself. Further answering Cole's question, he added, "I'm the the healer for the Cuori Aperti group. It's a widely varied group -- they accept people from any race. It's a nice group, I think. Everyone has their own struggles --" he thought briefly of Jacob, and the mindless rage that took him when the moon was full, "but they do their best and are good people, deep down."

While the tea steeped, Esqyn added arnica and comfrey into the mortar, and began grinding them into the boiling water, the contents becoming uniformly mashed into a greenish paste. He nudged the paste into the fabric that he'd pulled out, folding the fabric over to cover the paste and form a compress. Water from the paste soaked through the compress as he pushed down on the fabric, shaping it into a flat and even compress. "Here," he said, moving closer to gently press the pleasantly warm-hot compress against the bruised area. Wanting to distract Cole from any potential pain that the process might momentarily cause, he continued their conversation. "I was a loner, not too long ago. I wandered from place to place, wherever anyone needed a healer. After tending to a young girl in the Cuori Aperti, I grew to really like the group. More than that, I became close to someone in particular." A faint blush colored the blonde's cheeks. "Every time I visited, I kept lingering longer than I'd meant to, and soon I was helping out, starting a garden there.... It wasn't long before I became an official member of the group, then."

Holding it in place with one hand, he grabbed the bandages with the other, and wrapped them around Cole's upper-body to hold the compress in place. Checking to make sure the bandages weren't too tight, he tied them off and checked on the tea.

[Monday]

C O L E

Cole relaxed and took a more comfortable seat on the ground. He brought his knees up and rested his chin on them. Quietly listening to the others words, the company was...strange. It's been a while since he had been in the company of someone else, let alone converse with them. But hearing Esqyn talk about Cuori Aperti was comforting to say the least. Comforting to know that there were places for people like him, who accept each other no matter what their race is.

Cole smirked sadly, there was no way he would ever fit in a place like that, he was too much of a loner. Plus he'd always feel uncomfortable and awkward. That's why this situation was so ironic to him, normally he would of flown or ran away by now.
But why hasn't he?

The smell of tea filled his nostrils, bringing a smile to the shifters face. When was the last time he had a cup of tea? It was one of his favorite drinks after all, a comfort he took pleasure indulging in. He watched carefully as the healer pressed the fabric against his bruised skin. He let out a hiss of pain, and grinned his teeth together. Hearing the healer talk was helping though, he had something to distract himself with.

After the sting had subsided Cole lifted his arms up to give Esqyn a better reach around his torso. The shifter's stomach had the faintest tints of abs mostly because of all the flying he's done, and his arms were well defined as well.
Where did that skinny tall kid go? He wondered, reminiscing about his past. Shaking the thoughts out of his head, he responded to the blonde mans story.

"Thats sound like a nice place, like a family..." Cole reached to his side and slipped on his tee shirt being carefull not to undo the bandages. "Can i still fly? Or do i have to wait till it heals?" He asked, reffering the Raven, his main shifting animal. Cole knew there was no way he was getting out of this forest without turning into the raven, it was way to dense and confusing. He could be lost out here for days.




----
Thoughts
"Speaking"

----

[r y n t h a e]

Satisfied that the plant-matter had steeped long enough in the bottle for it to have sunken to the bottom, Esqyn handed it to Cole. "Here, this will help, too. The herbs are at the bottom, just to warn you." He paused faintly, packing extra bandages and fabric back into the basket, along with his mortar and pestel. Sitting down next to Cole, he considered the other shifter's words. "I suppose... they really are like a family." He gave a shy, if happy smile as he thought about it that way. "I was worried I wouldn't fit in, to be honest. I thought they would see me as an outsider, when I first joined.... That doesn't seem to be the case, though."

Cole's last question, though, caused Esqyn to give a soft, regretful sigh, as he shook his head. "I would let that compress do it's work, for now. If you shift, the bandaging will fall off, and you'll be back to where you were, before." He frowned a bit, thoughtfully as he considered what sort of advice to offer. It was dangerous to be alone in these woods. A danger that, granted, he took himself. However, if Cole was to refrain from shifting for a bit, it would be a bad idea for the other boy to go off by himself in this forest. As it was, Esqyn wasn't even certain if Cole was familiar with this place. The blonde healer came here fairly often to forage, however, and knew his way fairly well. Glancing back over to Cole, he offered: "if you feel comfortable with it, you could always walk back to the old university with me, where the Cuori Aperti make their home. It's not far from here, and the rest of the group is fairly used to me bringing patients there for treatment, so I don't think it'll be a problem at all."

It was strange, but Esqyn hadn't really had the chance to talk to many, if any, other shifters for more than just a couple of minutes. It was nice, in it's own way, to be in the company of someone who experienced the same sort of things, and who understood what it was like to be a shifter.

[Monday]

C O L E

Cole sipped his tea quietly, contemplating the others words. The flavor of ginger was pretty heavy, but luckily the lavender made it bearable. With a few more sips, he got to about half way with the bottle. He looked down at the liquid, shaking the bottle lightly, watching the tea swirl.
Cole knew he should accept Esqyn's offer, there was no way he could find his way out of the forest without shifting. There was always the possibly of shifting anyway, but the bruise would only cause him strain, and could haunt him in the long run if he made it worse. Pale green eyes watched the blonde man for a moment observed him, tried to figure out his angle.
Does he really want to help me? Or is there some ulterior motive? Either way, not like i have much of a choice.
With a nonchalant facial expression, the curly headed man stood up, stretching his legs. He causally cracked his back, making sure not to injure himself in the process, when that was done, he returned back to the matter at hand.
"Yeah, i think that would be for the best, if you don't mind of course."
Cole looked around for minute, noting all the plants that inhabited that area.
"Would you like some help? Collecting herbs that is, its the least i could do to repay all you've done for me."
He gave the other a sincere smile, hoping the other shifter knew how grateful he actually was.

----
Thoughts
"Speaking"

[r y n t h a e]

Esqyn gave a small smile, although he winced slightly at the sound of Cole's back cracking, well-aware of how bad that could be on joints later on in life. He thought better than to lecture Cole, though. Instead, he nodded faintly, considering Cole's offer to help with collecting herbs. "Actually, that would help out quite a bit." He smiled brightly, and offered Cole a small pocketknife, nodding over to a grouping of lavender plants. Spikes of purple flowers shot up from silvery-green foliage. "I use a lot of lavender in teas -- both for medicine, and just for drinking. The blossoms are what is used, so if you want to just cut down some of those flower spikes, that'd help out." Pulling out another small knife, Esqyn had moved over to an old willow tree, and had started peeling off just the very outside layers of bark, careful not to hurt the tree. A bit thoughtfully, he told Cole, "most people don't know it, but lavender is actually pretty closely related to mint. It tastes a bit like it, too, in teas, although it's much sweeter and flowery in taste."

After having added the willow bark to his basket, Esqyn kneeled down next to what appeared to be a group of daisies, of some sort. In actuality, the simple flowers were feverfew, a handy herb that he liked to keep stocked up on. He cut about half of the leaves of each plant, putting them into his basket, and leaving enough leaves on each plant to sustain it so that it could continue to live and reproduce.

"If you're interested," Esqyn told the other boy, "there are some wild fruits growing on the way back, as well. At the very least, there are plenty of strawberry plants that should be about ready, as well as a wild apple tree."

In a lot of ways, Esqyn was relieved that Cole hadn't opted to shift or walk through the forest on his own. After having treated him, Esqyn felt, in some ways, responsible for Cole's well-being.

[Monday]

C O L E

Cole walked towards the direction Esqyn nodded at, with the pocket knife in hand, he crouched next to the lavender and begun to cut the flower spikes as the healer instructed. He tried to keep everything the blonde man told him in his memory, information like that could prove useful in the future.
He continued to cut the lavender, and moved every time he finished with a plant. He wielded the knife with ease, in times like these, where no one is safe. How to defend yourself is important, Cole stopped cutting the leaves for a moment and looked back at Esqyn.
Absentmindedly he wondered how the young man could protect himself, it was a strange thought, but the other shifter just seemed too gentle, fragile in a way almost, but then again Cole could be completely wrong. He shrugged it off and continued to work, it wasn't the time to start worrying about someone else, no he couldn't do that, not now.
"Really? I had no idea, i guess i just never tried mint tea before." The lavender was getting to be too much to hold in his hand so he took the bottom of his shirt and brought it up exposing a small portion of his waist before placing the lavender in the make shift bag.
Cole perked up instantly when hearing about the wild fruits. So far he's been surviving off leftovers and various things he could find at the markets, but the thought of eating something fresh and delicious was quite a nice surprise. "I'm very interested actually, you have no idea how long i've craved strawberries." Cole chuckled and stood up, and began to walk over to Esqyn.
"I wasn't sure how much you needed, so uhh, will this be enough?" The curly headed man showed the shifter his pile of lavender, tucked in his shirt. He felt strangely happy to say the least, today...was a good day it seemed and part of him really wished it would stay like that.

----
Thoughts
"Speaking"

[r y n t h a e]

Esqyn smiled softly, seeing the rather large pile of lavender spikes that Cole had harvested. "That's perfect," he responded, just finishing up with his cuttings as well. Despite being rather delicately built, the blonde was graceful and lithe in his movements. In a dangerous situation, rather than stand and fight, he preferred to escape (usually in either kestrel or coyote form) or play at the diplomat.

Seeing Cole's expression light up at the mention of wild fruits, Esyn wondered a bit worriedly about how Cole's life might normally be like. The other boy was apparently a loner... which meant that getting a balanced enough diet was probably difficult, and shelter was probably a privaledge instead of an expectation. Esqyn had always been fairly lucky; his healing knowledge and abilities had ensured that he was able to find a good meal and a place to stay, even before he had settled down with the Cuori Aperti. Expression softening, he suggested lightly, "if there are enough apples, and if you don't mind helping with the cooking, I was thinking about making some pies. You look like you could use a pick-me-up."

Picking up his basket, and tucking away the last of his supplies, Esqyn motioned for Cole to follow him. Although it was difficult to pick out at first, a thin trail appeared through the underbrush. It eventually wound its way back to the old university, where the Cuori Aperti made their home. Stopping at one of the bends, Esqyn walked just to the left of the path, and into a thick grove of trees. Just beyond it was a wild apple tree sporting numerous, if small, pink and yellow apples. The edges of the clearing were thick with brambles and ripe strawberry plants, their red fruit just barely visible, hanging under the umbrella of their leaves. Esqyn was glad that he'd left a good deal of room in the basket, and also that it held so much. With a small, wry grin, he told Cole: "feel free to eat as many as you'd like, while we're picking. As long as we fill up the basket, no one will know the difference -- and it looks like there is more than enough to last for quite a while."