Bear Necessities: Part II

[Jeremy Casing]

82nd Spring, 515AV
Continued from Here

Jeremy soon lost sight of boy and dog as he trekked deeper into the Bronze Woods. The light spattered onto his shoulders, dappled by the surrounding trees. In truth, Jeremy was in paradise. The quiet, the greenery, that whisper of wind that tickled his ears and neck...

The Kelvic let out a sigh, and the beginnings of a smile tugged on his avian-like face. Yes, he was at peace here. But he had a job a do. His expression subsequently hardened, and Jeremy glanced behind himself to ensure he'd been travelling in a straight line. Thankfully, he had.

The path he followed had long since been eaten and covered by grass and moss. Jeremy needed to get his bearings about his current position if he were to correctly navigate his way back to the Mithryn. Of course, he could fly. But that would require the animal handler to discard his medical supplies, which was out of the question.

He began to investigate his surroundings. The path had ended ten or so feet ago, so firstly he backtracked. Standing once again on the dusty path, the Kelvic searched for any sign of recent traversing.

Was that a hoof print?

Yes, it was!

Jeremy couldn't confirm how old it was, but there was indeed a definitive hoof-print stamped into the dust. Hopefully it was one of the boys' mounts, but the recent dry weather would mean that a mark left two days ago wouldn't have been washed away. But, then again, it was his best bet. So Jeremy marched off in the direction that the hoof print appeared to be coming from, his gold eyes downcast and searching for further clues. Frequently, the young man came to a stop to investigate his surroundings.

His progress was slow, but Jeremy continued to plod onwards.

[Jeremy Casing]

Every so often, the Kelvic stooped down to closer look at a suspicious mark or footprint. Other times he simply froze, held his breath and listened to the wood. But as yet, he'd heard nothing that sounded like a dying bear cub. Thankfully.

He came to yet another stop, crouching down to touch a rock stained with darkness. Blood. Dried, but still a little tacky. So... Fresh? He honestly had little clue, but Jeremy assumed as much. With a frown, he searched for another sign.

And noticed another splatter of blood on the lower part of a tree. He crawled towards it, lips pursed in intense concentration. This blood was much like the first. He could only assume that it had come from the same creature. But was this the bear cub, or Frisk?

Either way, Jeremy couldn't ignore the blood. A creature was in pain, it needed his aid. Subconsciously he touched his gnosis mark.

The Kelvic continued tracking the blood westwards, though Jeremy couldn't tell which direction he was travelling in. Gods, he have arrived at Alvadas for all he knew!

But slowly, the blood spots began to appear more frequently. And not only that: they were wetter. Fresher, he realised. Renewed with a fresh energy and also a new wave of concern, the Kelvic pushed onwards. His legs ached now, but he forced himself to wade through the thickets and brambles that snagged at his clothes.

And then he came into a small clearing. It wasn't just bloodspots now that led Jeremy, but clawed paw prints as well. A row of small footsteps, presumably belonging to the cub, guided Jeremy. And a row of significantly larger steps: the mother bear. He gulped. A mother bear, overwhelmed with concern and aggression, might not appreciate Caiyha's mark as much as Jeremy hoped she would. He was hopeless at climbing, too exhausted to run. If the mother bear decided he would be lunch, Jeremy would be helpless.

He whispered a prayer to Oriana. "Guide me Goddess, let your creatures abide me and -- not eat me, please. I apologise for what those children did to your beloved bears. But I will guard them, I will heal them."

With that, Jeremy sniffed and stepped into the clearing.

And so did the mother bear.

[Jeremy Casing]

If Jeremy ever doubted the power of a mothers' love, they were abandoned at that moment.

She was massive, covered with a thick black fur. She snorted and snarled to herself, sniffing at small bundle of fur that whimpered in response. The bear cub. Jeremy's heart ached, and he yearned to get closer to his patient.

But then the mother bear sensed him, she smelt him. She turned sharply around, her beady dark eyes staring straight into Jeremy's. After positioning herself between Jeremy and her cub, she gave a low, warning growl. The meaning was clear: turn around and leave.

Jeremy stepped forward.

This simple movement was enough to make her charge. The next few ticks slowed down for Jeremy as he watched the female run towards him. The bear lurched forward, throwing herself into a full-pelt run before rising up on two legs. The creature towered over Jeremy. She was at least twice his weight, three times his girth. With a swipe of her paw, she could shatter the skinny Kelvic into a million pieces.

This is how I die.

But Caiyha or Oriana must have whispered to him, because Jeremy remained strong and stationary. He too raised his arms up and towards the bear, throwing himself into her muscular chest. Jeremy was lost amongst inches of thick, black fur. But eventually, his fingertips brushed her skin and the Phylonurist sent frantic images of the dog, the boys, his gift from Caiyha.

Whilst struggling to breathe, he spoke in Nura again.

I'll help. Let me save your child.

He was released from the bear's grip, and Jeremy leapt away, spluttering out great mouthfuls of air and fur. She dropped to all fours again, but still the bear could look into Jeremy's face without needing to glance upwards. Her size sent shivers down his spine, but again the Kelvic stood his ground. Their eyes met and he once again vowed his dedication to Oriana and Caiyha.

With a snort, the bear turned away from him and led Jeremy to her bleeding child.

[Jeremy Casing]

The bear cub sat, timid and afraid. When Jeremy approached, the young animal whined pensively. The mother responded with a low, hopefully comforting growl. Nervously, Jeremy turned his back to the female bear. Nura was communicated by either physical contact or eye contact. He now had neither with the mother bear; if she wanted to kill him, now would have as good a time as any.

But she didn't. Instead, the female crouched down onto her quarters, her eyes fixated on the Kelvic.

Jeremy worked quickly, his heart thudding noisily in his chest. In truth, he was utterly petrified. One wrong move, he felt, and the mother bear would rip him to pieces. But it was evident to him that the cub would likely die without medical aid. Perhaps the mother understood this, even if she did not appreciate or like the fact.

The cub was in a far worse state than Alf's dog had been. His snout was red and raw, the right ear almost completely shredded away. There were several patches of hairless skin revealed to Jeremy, all torn and bitten and shredded. And there was blood. A lot of it.

Jeremy had limited supplies to work with, particularly in regard to bandages or materials to wipe away the blood. In fact, he thought, his mind working in an time orderly fashion, how do I bandage up a wild animal? He didn't fancy his chances of finding this cub again, not to remove any bandages or splints he might apply.

Slowly, Jeremy realised what he needed to do. He would have to stitch the worse of the bear cub's wounds, and simply hope that a good cleaning would help heal the others. Though the Kelvic had come equipped with his surgeon's kit (which he was yet to use), he'd never even practised stitching a real wound up. The only thing he'd used with his needlework on was a chicken carcass he'd chopped in half and then tried to stitch back together.

The patient had, unfortunately, not made it.

With a shaky breath, Jeremy tried to piece his mind together. First, he needed to clean the wounds.

As he'd done before, Jeremy withdrew a vial of water from his bag and also a roll of bandages. After wetting the latter with the former, he laid a tentative hand on the bear cub's shoulder. He whined pathetically, painfully. Mother bear snorted onto Jeremy's ear.

This will help, the Kelvic promised silently. Slowly, letting the cub sniff tentatively at his hand before continuing, Jeremy touched the bloody flesh with his bandage. The cub retracted away from him, whimpering. But eventually, the animal rolled back towards the healer. Jeremy tried again, this time gently humming a tune to calm both himself and the cub.

The cloth bandage was soon stained with blood and grime, but the cub's wounds were clean now. Jeremy could move onto his next task.

[Jeremy Casing]

It was probably too late for the cub to reap the full benefits of Jeremy's Tulja poultice. The herb, if applied within a bell of an injury, could deaden one's pain and increase the rate of healing. But according to the lad Jeremy had spoken to earlier, the cub was injured almost two bells ago.

But better than nothing, right?

With an unconfident hand, he applied the poultice to all of the cub's injuries. His touch was light, but firm enough to ensure the poultice was successfully deposited into the scratches and scars. Jeremy had no real clue how delicate he needed to be with a bear cub. They were tough creatures (the mother bear was evidence of this), but any injured young animal was a vulnerable thing indeed. He guessed this cub had been born in the winter. If the seasons continued to be good, the young bear would hopefully flourish to full health soon.

The scars on his snout, ear and leg would not require stitches. Hopefully, the poultice alone would heal them. But the gash on the cub's side would require further care. The skin was practically hanging off the cub's body, revealing the layer of fat and gristle underneath.

Jeremy knelt back on his haunches, taking in a slow breath and trying to relax his nerves. He'd need a steady hand for the next part.

This may hurt. The gentle Nura warning to the cub was replied to with a tentative squeak. The sound of shifting bulk told Jeremy that Mother Bear had not left her supervisory post. She would probably not appreciate her child going through more pain today, but it would be neccessary.

[Jeremy Casing]

Equipped with his surgical needle and thread, Jeremy started his work. First, he tested the numbness of the cub's wound by gently pressing it. The Tulja poultice appeared to have worked to some degree, but the young bear nevertheless writhed in discomfort.

With a final prayer to Caiyha and Oriana, Jeremy plunged the needle into the cub.

The squeal was immediate and painful to the ears. Jeremy's winced, held his breath. The mother bear appeared at his shoulders, eyes narrowed and breath hot on his neck. With a glance in her direction, the Phylourist assured her that her cub was in good hands. Whether or not he managed to convince her, the Kelvic didn't know.

He's need to work quickly, to compress the cub's discomfort into as shorter a time as possible. But his hands were shaking and Jeremy had never done this before on a live creature. Short of doing a shoddy job, there was a limit to how efficiently Jeremy could do this task.

As long as I close the wound, I'd have helped.

Now it was himself Jeremy needed to reassure. He pulled his attention to the task at hand. Having pushed the needle through the open flap of the cub's wound, he threaded it to his main body and pulled the skin together. He repeated this simple motion, going back-and-forth to close the wound.

In an ideal world, Jeremy would see the cub again to remove the stitches. But it wasn't exactly feasible to plan second appointment with a wild animal. With any luck, the mother bear would take her cub far away from the Mithryn, for his own safety. The best Jeremy could ask for was thus that the stitches simply healed over the thread, which would hopefully either fall away or cause no problems further down the bear's lifetime.

His work was uneven and crooked. There were patches along the cub's wound that were without stitches, while other parts had several clustered together. In truth, Jeremy was ashamed that he'd allowed himself to get so stressed and distracted, but the damage was done. The worse of it was over for the cub, at least.

Jeremy regarded the cub that lay at his knees. Black fur, a cute face, shining black eyes that stared back up to the Kelvic with a mixture of confusion and appreciation. The cub would no doubt forget the strange pale man who healed him as a cub. But for Jeremy, the young bear would not be so easily forgotten.

The Mother bear moved behind him, and the Kelvic shifed quickly to his feet. She still made him nervous, and Jeremy stepped aside to allow her to investigate and sniff over her young. Mother and cub reunited, the pair bumped noses and spoke in low groans before the female adult bear turned her attention back to the Kelvic. Slowly, she approached him, eyes narrowed like two hard little stones. When she lowered her head, Jeremy assumed she was pushing him away from her cub at last.

But instead, the bear knocked against his hand with her nose. Astounded, Jeremy allowed the mother bear to speak to him in Nura. She portrayed her memories: fire torches in the dark, traps near the rivers that ran through the woods. She'd done well to survive this long, to bring as many cubs into this world as she'd done. Jeremy had been the first two-legged being to touch one of her children in a loving, healing way. And she was grateful for that. As the female bear stepped away, their Nua connection broke away and her memories left Jeremy's mind. But thankfully, they were now his as well.

The Mother bear glanced behind herself, looking at Jeremy once more and allowing a grumble to erupt lowly from her throat. It sounded very much like thank you.

[Sayana]

Jeremy Skills: Skill EXP Observation +5 Land Navigation +2 Tracking +2 Investigation +1 Endurance +1 Prayer +1 Persuasion +2 Planning +1 Animal Husbandry +3 Medicine +3 Herbalism +1 Sewing +1 Lores: Tracking: Following a blood trail Oriana: Goddess of Bears Tracking: Bear pawprint A mother bear's love for her cub Medicine: Treating a wild animal versus a domestic one Tulja Poultice: Deadens pain within first bell and helps healing of minor cuts and scratches Medicine: Numb pain before doing stitches Medicine: Stitching up a wound Comments : I was so touched by the ending with the mother bear. That was a lovely read. Don't forget to edit/delete your grade request in the grade request thread. However, make sure to keep the link so that the DS can review graded threads with ease. If you have any questions or concerns about your grade please feel free to send me a message (like really, I’m all ears if you feel like I missed something). Enjoy.