Eruka stepped barefoot through the swamp, her muddied gown trailing like a soiled veil in the black water behind her. She paid the weight of it no mind, focused instead on the feel of cool sediment pressing between her toes.

The swamp was calm that night, quiet save for the sweet song of crickets, the faint buzz of passing fireflies, and the sound of displaced water as Eruka waded towards an outcrop of smooth stones in the distance. Her evening had been filled with gathering ingredients and laying traps along the swamp's perimeter; it was a day she'd lived many times, and a routine that had grown comfortable over the years.

She lowered herself on a stone, setting the basket in her arms on another, a worn wicker cradle filled with various plants and herbs ready to be dried and hung. Her seat was hard and cold, but she ignored it in favour of the wind brushing against her skin. With a satisfied groan Eruka stretched out her legs, arms raising above her head.

That's when her foot hit something soft.

Eruka stilled.

Something hairy.

She nudged it further and found that it was slightly firm, connecting to a larger mass. After a pregnant pause, one filled with a growing unease, Eruka dug her toes under and lifted it out of the water.

It was a human arm, tangled in weeds and coated in the bog soil.

A very hairy human arm.

"...Hello," Eruka murmured warily.

Dead hunters tended to show up on her swamp quite often, having been caught up in one of her traps-which is to say, the exploded remnants showed up quite often. Still, for one to get so deep into her territory was unusual.

The hand grabbed her ankle and pulled.

Eruka let out a horrified screech, kicking out with her foot. When the hand refused to let go, she twisted onto her belly in the mud and tried to claw herself back up the bank without much success, stopped short by the iron grip.

Eruka turned in horror as a body emerged gasping from the water, the head jerking around wildly, spraying droplets of muddy water. The intruder sputtered, wiping his face. Then, through the inky mess, two distinct, glowing eyes - one red, one amber - peered at her.

She froze, momentarily struck by the strange beauty of that gaze, shining bright against the darkness. The man breathed heavily in the echoing stillness between them, water mixed with blood dripping down his face and falling from his scruffy chin. His breath escaped his mouth in visible puffs, encircling his head briefly before disappearing into the night with each heaving exhale.

He swallowed thickly, grating out in a hoarse voice, "I need your-"

Eruka screamed and slammed her heel squarely against his nose.

The man let her go with a tortured groan, hands reaching up to cover his face. When she attempted to hit him a second time, he grabbed her ankle again.

Gritting her teeth through her fear, Eruka spat, "You're trespassing, wolf!"

Even had it not been for the glow of his eyes, she would've known his species from the sharpness of his teeth, the point of his ears, and the sheer giant mass of him. It explained why he hadn't set off any of her earlier traps, all of which were solely designed to capture humans.

Taking an aggravated breath, as though he was quickly losing patience with her, the werewolf once again began to speak. "Witch, I need your ai-"

Eruka covered her ears. "Shut up. Shut up!"

Growling low in his throat, the wolf crawled up the bank. He climbed over Eruka's legs, a look of determination in his eyes as he reached up and tore one of Eruka's hands from her ear. She looked down at him with real fear as he snapped, "Heal me, ple—"

Her hands slammed against his mouth, but her shoulders had sunk, defeated. "Don't say it! I'll help you just… don't speak anymore."

"Thank you…" he sighed, his whole body visibly relaxing when her hands fell away. He was struggling to stay upright, his eyes beginning to droop. The blood that poured down half his face had yet to slow. "I won't take much of your time."

"Oh, shut it," Eruka snapped, then let out an "Oof!" when the wolf finally dropped all his weight on her.

"I'm really sorry 'bout this," he said, words muffled as he talked into her stomach. "I don't think I can move just yet."

"I don't care! Get off me!" Eruka pushed against the weight of his shoulders, growling in frustration.

"Jus' gimme a sec," he grunted.

Eventually, with zero effort on the part of the wolf, Eruka wiggled out from under him and scrambled upright. Sliding in the muck, she snatched up her basket and shot him a look of derision, spitting, "I'm filthy."

The werewolf, face down in the mud, only grunted in sympathy.

Hooking her basket around her shoulder, Eruka bent to wash the mud from her neck. It hardly helped. Nor did it change the fact that her dress was ruined. She scowled down at herself. "I'm supposed to be beautiful, dammit!"

"Mmf."

"What did I say about shutting it?" Eruka muttered, but her ire had already deflated and she was left feeling defeated. For a long moment after she rose to her feet, Eruka simply glared at the reflection of the moon in the water, grinding the backs of her teeth together.

"Are you okay?" the wolf asked eventually, having pushed himself up from the mud.

"Just peachy," said Eruka. Her glare shifted its focus to the wolf beside her, then fell once more to her feet. "Come on," she nodded westward, "home is this way."

She reached down and, with surprising strength, helped lift him up from the ground. Once standing on shaky legs, he nodded at her to let him go, which she did gratefully. Then, wiping the mud from her hands onto her dress, she gave the wolf one last wary look before heading towards home. He followed her on trembling legs.

"Thank you for helping me," the wolf spoke from behind her, voice gruff.

Eruka kicked a frog out of her way. It croaked mournfully before splashing in the water a good distance away. "Not like I have much of a choice."

"So it is true then," the werewolf murmured at her side. Eruka blinked at his sudden appearance beside her. She took a pointed step to her left before continuing to stomp forward. "The swamp witch of these woods is cursed to help all who ask."

Eruka looked him up and down, lips pinched. "Lucky for you."

His responding chuckle was dry. "Lucky for me."

Now that she had gotten a good look at him, Eruka could tell that the wolf was pretty beaten up. His limping walk was the least of it, heavy as it was, when compared to the damaged arm cradled to his side and the size of his head wound drenching half his face in blood.

"I'm Free, by the way."

"Huh?" Eruka grunted rudely, distracted.

"My name."

"Oh." Eruka shifted the basket in her hands. "I'm Eruka."

Silence took over as they walked deeper into the swamp, disturbed only by the slither of snakes, the croaking of frogs, and the occasional whistle of wind through hanging branches that made the drying mud all the more unbearable over her skin. Free was surprisingly quiet on his feet, and not even a pained groan passed his lips. In fact, the one who grumbled the most was Eruka, who groaned every now and then to announce her displeasure.

Thankfully for both parties, it wasn't long until they found themselves in the deepest part of the swamp. Eruka lived at the base of an old tree, in a carved-out hollow that was far larger than it seemed, and far drier than it had any right to be given the surrounding swamp. The outside had a simple appearance, with a round, wooden door and small, shuttered windows. Branches from the tree hid it from most eyes, ensuring it was only visible to those who were already well within the swamp's grasp. As an added bonus of being Eruka's private sanctuary, the surrounding area was set to explode at the snap of her fingers.

"Don't touch those," Eruka warned, pointing to a vibrant blue potted plant beside her front door. "They're poisonous."

Without bothering to see whether he followed her orders, Eruka unlatched the thick wooden door and entered her home. With one hand she felt around for the oil lamp that hung from the ceiling and lit it with a derisive sniff.

The room illuminated around them, and Eruka could sense the wolf immediately investigating each nook and cranny-werewolves were a notoriously nosey species. She attempted to pay him no mind, having told herself a long time ago that she didn't care what others thought of her home, but it was difficult.

To her own eyes, it was a fine home, albeit a tad bit cluttered. The inside was pleasantly cool, kept a level temperature by the outside swamp, and for the harsher winters she kept a black wood stove that stoked a well-sized fire. The rest was admittedly a mess-a jumbled slew of scattered knick-knacks and jars filled with various ingredients-snake legs, spider fangs, eyeballs, fairy wings, and salt.

Of the greenery which had accumulated within the space, half of it grew from pots, some of it was dried and hanging, and the rest grew out the hard, soil walls. They all flourished quite happily, though, feeding off Eruka's magic until she chopped them up to make spells or dinner or both. The furniture, on the other hand, was worn with years of use, and riddled with signs of bad patch jobs. Most notable were the two ratty beds, both of which had seen better days, covered in old, grey blankets.

"First of all, you'll have to take a bath," Eruka said, pushing her thoughts to the back of her head. She walked to the cabinet that contained her medical supplies, retrieving linen rolls, a jar of ointment, and a needle and thread.

"A bath?" Free mumbled, pulled from his inspections. Eruka noted that he appeared to be having trouble standing.

"A bath? Warm, soapy water?"

"I'm familiar," Free said, rubbing his face. "Can I just lay down for a bit first? Feelin' a little woozy, if you know what I mean."

She didn't know what he meant, and she didn't really care.

"Not covered in mud and blood, you can't," Eruka said as she moved to lift various jars out of the clawed tub in the corner, stacking them haphazardly among boxes of animal parts. "You need a bath, and I'd wager you needed one long before you got into whatever scuffle got you looking like that."

"Can't argue with that, I suppose." Free watched her bend down and set her palm flat on the bottom of the now empty bathtub. As she slowly lifted her hand, water followed, rising up to meet her fingers. Eruka continued this ritual until the water was halfway up the tub. When she straightened she snapped her fingers, and just as quickly steam began to rise from the water.

Patting her hands together, Eruka looked to Free. "Alright then, in you go."

Without moving, Free frowned down at the bathtub, looking slightly ill. His eyes darted to the door. "Maybe I'll just bathe in the swamp-"

Eruka pointedly crossed her arms. The mud that coated her skin had begun to dry and was crumbling off in chunks that fell in a pile at her feet. She paid it no mind, focused instead on the hypocrite in front of her. "Listen, wolf. I don't care what hang-ups you have about my magic. You came to me for help so I'm going to help you. Whether I like it or not. That means bathing in water that won't give you an infection."

Eyes moving from the tub to Eruka and back again, Free at last appeared to make peace with the idea, though his face had grown even whiter in the dim light. "It's not that I'm ungrateful… it's just-"

Eruka waved a hand, cutting him off. "I'm used to it."

Free looked like he wanted to say more but appeared to decide against it. He displayed his cooperation instead by quickly untying his trousers.

"Keep your clothes on," Eruka ordered as she collected a bucket of soap and placed it next to the tub. "I don't want you ripping a scab off if the fabric is stuck to the wound."

Eruka didn't help Free as he stepped shakily into the bathtub, one arm tucked tightly against his side, merely watched silently. When he'd settled into the water with a pained grunt - the water rapidly blooming burnt red clouds around his abdomen - Eruka dragged over a small stool with her foot and sat down behind him. No longer having her in his line of sight, Free tried to jerk around to watch her but Eruka grabbed his head to hold him still.

"What are you-?"

"I'm cleaning your wound. Be grateful," Eruka stated, tangling her fingers through his hair, searching for the wound. Free choked under her hold, muscles jerking under the thin fabric of his tunic.

Eruka paused her ministrations. "Is something wrong?"

"No," Free gasped.

Shaking her head, Eruka continued to gently probe his scalp with her fingers until she found the edges of his head wound. It was a fairly large gash, and would likely appear larger when all the mud and debris was removed.

The wound looked too fresh, barely healed. Confused, Eruka roughly grabbed Free's head and twisted his face sideways, leaning down to meet him halfway. He blinked at her with wide eyes but Eruka ignored him. "You aren't healing."

"Huh?"

She took an impatient breath. "You're cursed, Free. You didn't tell me you were cursed."

Acknowledgement quickly replaced the confusion in his eyes. "I didn't think it mattered."

Eruka could've killed him herself-getting involved with another witch's territory was bad news. "You thought wrong."

Werewolves were notoriously hard to kill because they were such fast healers. As soon as you cut off their arm the wound would cauterize and they'd be running around all willy-nilly again. Personally, Eruka thought cursing one was a pretty smart tactic, but she decided not to mention her thoughts out loud.

This turn of events did drastically change the situation, though-for both of them. Eruka refused to focus on it now. She would save that for tonight when she cursed the world under the safety of her covers.

"Did you win at least?" Eruka asked, going back to her chore. She wasn't much for mindless chatter, but if it kept him awake then it was worth it. "The fight, I mean."

Free leaned further into her hands. "I'm here now aren't I?"

Eruka snorted. "True enough."

"...What about you?" Free asked.

"What about me?" Eruka asked, only half paying attention as she reached for the bucket of soap. It was her own creation, infused with lavender that she'd traded another witch for dried frog legs. For a moment she considered the pros and cons of saving the soap versus wasting it on the wolf. In the end she grudgingly decided that the wound-and the rest of him-needed a good scrub and so her soap would have to be sacrificed.

"Did the person who cursed you get away?"

Coils of twisting black snakes flashed in Eruka's mind for an instant, darkening the room and blinding her. The effect was dizzying, and only the tactile warmth of another person kept her in place. With some effort she shook her head, clearing it. As though nothing happened, Eruka said smoothly, "You can hardly expect me to give away my secrets."

"I told you mine, didn't I?"

"Considering your state of bleeding out in my bathtub, your decision-making skills are currently in question," Eruka stated tartly.

"I don't know," said Free, pointedly stretching out in the tub that was far too small for him. "Things don't seem so bad from where I'm sitting." Eruka pulled sharply at his hair, making him jump.

"Or," Eruka began pleasantly, clawing through Free's scalp as though she hadn't just pulled out several strands of his hair, "one could say you've walked straight into the witch's lair."

Eruka was surprised when Free simply shrugged. "I'm not too worried."

"Oh?" Eruka deadpanned.

"I know you're a good person, I can smell it."

"Smell?" Eruka shrilled. "Good person?"

Before Eruka could shout any more, Free turned his head to peer at her. "Speaking of smell, how are you going to get clean if I'm in here?"

Shaking her head at the change of topic, Eruka returned to her task of rubbing soap on an old, clean cloth-perhaps harder than necessary. "I have a shower in the back that I'll use while I leave you to soak."

Free winced as she began to lightly rub at his head wound. "You don't want to use the bathtub?"

"No, the tub is mostly for spells."

"...Ah."

Free went thankfully quiet after that, and Eruka paid him little mind as she thoroughly cleaned his wound. Eventually, she felt his head dip forward, growing heavy with sleep, but Eruka simply continued her work. When his hair and the gash on his head were both clean, she dipped the bucket in the bathwater and carefully poured it over his head and shoulders, rinsing the soap off completely.

Eruka patted his shoulder, jerking him awake. She leaned around him so she could make eye contact. "I'm going to go shower and do my rounds around the swamp. I'll be back in half an hour. Let your wounds soak until the cloth separates from the scab then scrub them with the soap, okay?"

Free just nodded tiredly.

"Don't fall asleep, and don't die. Got it?"

He laughed, a weak smile on his face. "Got it."

Eruka patted his shoulder a second time before getting up from her stool and padding barefoot across the room. As she reached the front door she bent down to retrieve her basket, hooking it on her elbow before unlatching the front door and exiting into the night.

As she shut the door behind her, Eruka took a deep breath and slumped against it. Once again she was trapped by the cruel oath that was forced upon her.

To help people.

Ugh.

Although, Eruka thought reluctantly as she pushed herself off the door, Free certainly wasn't the worst patient she'd ever had. In fact, he was probably one of the more decent people she'd ever met. She hiked over the roots of her home towards the showers in the rear, her mind filled with memories of past patients, all foul-smelling, narcissistic, sexist, and cruel. And despite her help, none of them had been fond of witches.

Eruka frowned as she remembered Free's aversion to her magic. Not that she could rightfully blame him, of course. The stigma against her kind was often rightfully deserved.

She herself could attest to that.

…

Half an hour later, Eruka re-entered her home, having scrubbed her skin to a light pink and donned a new dress. On her left arm hung her basket, also wiped clean, filled with vegetables and mushrooms from her garden.

"I hope you're not dead," Eruka called into the house, bumping the door closed with her hip. When she turned to face the tub she found her patient fast asleep, snoring quietly.

Eyes rolling to the ceiling, Eruka set her basket on a small table before walking briskly towards Free. With two fingers she reached for his pointed ear and twisted it violently.

Free jerked to awareness, bellowing loudly in the small room. Dirty water sloshed out the sides of the tub as he pushed himself upright, head swiveling about for the source of his pain. When all he found was Eruka, he blinked up at her dumbly.

"Wha…?" he rasped blearily.

"Following orders isn't your greatest strength, is it, wolf?"

Free blinked the water out of his eyes, reaching up to rub his face with clawed fingers. "What are you talkin' about?"

"I told you not to fall asleep! You have a head wound!"

"Was jus' restin' my eyes," Free muttered, eyelids lowering as he settled back against the rim of the tub. He looked like he was ready to fall back asleep.

Eruka decided it was best for his health if she ignored him for the moment and walked towards her basket of vegetables. She picked them up and moved to her work bench, pulling a sharp knife from her drawer before she began chopping up a carrot. She looked up to glare at the back of his head as she asked, "Have you at least cleaned the wounds like I asked?"

"I did do that," he answered, lifting his shirt to show a nasty wound on his abdomen. "Scrubbed till it went numb." He sounded pleased with himself.

It wasn't precisely what she'd intended, but at least his wounds were clean. "And you could reach them all?" she questioned, somewhat warily. The last thing she wanted was to be cleansing the unsavory bits of a werewolf.

Thankfully, Free nodded a second time. "It was just my belly and head that were the worst."

Eruka nodded, though he couldn't see her. "Good. Take those clothes off now and I'll mend them for you. I haven't much else in your size aside from a pair of pants and a tunic or two. I'll go into town next week to buy you a second set."

Free laughed tiredly. "Don't worry, I'll be out of your hair by tomorrow. Spare clothes won't be necessary."

Eruka froze, knife stilling above diced carrot. "Tomorrow," she repeated. Carefully, she lowered her blade to the table. "Free, tell me what you know about the oath I took."

As if sensing something was amiss, Free pulled himself up from the rim of the tub and turned to face Eruka. His half-lidded eyes were filled with concern. "Just that you have to help anyone who asks."

Eruka raised an eyebrow at him. "And what did you ask?"

"I asked you to help me."

She shook her head, went back to chopping. "You asked me to heal you. And that's what I have to do, whether either of us likes it or not."

Free looked tired. "Can you just say whatever it is you're hinting at?"

Eruka chopped harder. "What I mean is you have to stay with me until you're completely healed."

The colour drained from Free's face. He attempted to pull himself out of the tub but his arm failed him, collapsing inward. When he righted himself in the sloshing water he looked up at Eruka, gasping, "But the curse… my arm-that could take weeks!"

"If the curse slowed your healing down to a mortal rate, it'll be more like months," Eruka stated frankly.

"But can't you magically heal it? You're a witch aren't you?"

"That's not how my magic works."

"Well, what happens if I refuse?"

Eruka's stomach flipped at the possibility. She wanted to lie, to tell him that he would be turned into a toad or something, that horrible things would happen should he run away, but the oath guided her tongue towards honesty. "Bad things. To me."

To his credit, this seemed to bother Free greatly. "Like what?"

Excruciating pain until someone else asked her for help. "Bad things," she repeated instead of the truth. It had happened only once before, but the memory still sent shivers down her spine. She was still chopping the carrot, eager to have something else to focus on. "In any case, we won't have to worry about it because it won't happen."

Eruka's curt tone signalled the end of the conversation. It shouldn't matter to her that he sounded so concerned, and it certainly shouldn't matter that he sounded like he meant to stay. Eventually, when he got tired, or when his wounds weren't closing fast enough, he'd want to leave.

And she'd do everything in her power to stop him.

"...I think your carrot is done."

Eruka blinked up at Free in surprise, then down at the the table to the pulverized carrot. "I'm using it for an ointment," Eruka lied, slamming the blade down on the table.

"Uh huh."

Eruka glared at him, rounding around her workbench to the linen closet. She retrieved a large, off-white towel. Throwing it on the ground near the bath, she said, "Get out of the tub, I'll put your bandages on now."

Eruka crossed her arms as she watched Free pull himself out of the water, his clothes skin-tight against his form, though once again she didn't offer to help him as he shakily scaled the porcelain rim. Only when he began struggling to pull off his worn tunic with his one good arm did Eruka reluctantly walk over and help peel him free of his clothing.

As each layer of clothing landed with a wet slap on the ground, more of Free's damaged body was revealed. Though he wasn't lying when he said his abdomen and his head were the worst of it, he had failed to reveal the myriad of scratches and purple, mottled bruises that marred his skin, and Eruka held back a wince at the sight.

Curious despite herself, Eruka ran a finger down a particularly large bruise. Free's muscle jerked, and Eruka quickly pulled her hand away. Feeling a bit foolish, Eruka bent to retrieve the towel to avoid Free's questioning glance.

"Turn around," she said. "I'll dry your back."

Free seemed to have no problem being nude in front of her. He simply stood before her completely unashamed with half-lidded eyes and a slew of battle wounds. Not that he had anything to worry about in the looks department. His body was thickly muscled and broad-tall, too, even for a werewolf.

Mind you, his lack of shame could also be do to the fact that he was nearly dead on his feet.

"Alright then," Eruka said, giving Free's slumped shoulder a pat and fighting the heat in her cheeks. "Go sit on the bed before you fall over. I have neither the desire nor the muscle mass needed to carry you to bed."

Giving her a mock salute, Free dutifully stumbled over to the bed in the corner of the room and collapsed onto it, his shoulders slumping and his eyes tightly shut. Noting the signs of pain, Eruka hastened to retrieve the pile of linens and ointments she'd prepared.

"Alright then, lift your arm," she said, coming over to sit next to him. "Easy does it. There we go." Dumping the supplies in the space between them, Eruka first leaned over to examine the wound across his abdomen. It was actually three wounds-three jagged gashes that ran parallel to one another all along his ribs. In his current mortal state it would badly scar without stitches.

"We'll need to sew this up," Eruka said, thinking aloud.

Free shivered. "I hate needles."

"And there you go again," Eruka said, slipping a piece of thread through the eye of her needle, "telling me all your secrets. Imagine what I could do with that information-you'd agree to give up your first born after I was done with you."

Despite his wounds, Free grinned. "Would you want my first born?" he teased.

Eruka's eyes narrowed. "I'm serious."

Free chuckled. "So am I."

"You're too trusting," Eruka scolded.

"And you're changing the subject," he shot back.

Eruka sent him a furious glare before brandishing the needle in her hand. "I hope this hurts," she told him.

As she bent under his raised arm she told herself she was going to enjoy this part more than usual. She also told herself she didn't care when he flinched as she placed a bracing hand on his ribcage and worked in the needle.

The procedure took time, even had Eruka not favoured clean lines over speed, it was a large wound that required patience to mend. Eruka soon found herself frowning with every flinch the wolf made, but she made sure to keep her pace steady lest she make a mistake.

"There," she said finally, leaning away from him. "All done."

Free released a great puff of air, rigid muscles relaxing. "That wasn't so bad," he said.

Eruka snorted, twisting the lid off a container of ointment. She dipped her fingers in and liberally smeared it across the wound. Next, she unrolled the linen beside her.

"Arm up," she instructed again, ducking under it as he did so. She had to lean in close to wrap the band around the width of his torso, so close that she could feel the heat of his skin against her cheek. Eruka struggled to ignore the sensation, refusing to react with Free so close to her. Thankfully, it didn't take long till she was finished, and she fastened the linen in a knot and backed away, examining her work.

"Alright, lower your arm, I'll look at it next," Eruka said. It was his lower forearm that was broken, the bones set at an awkward angle. Gently, she rotated his arm to get a better look, fingers careful not to cause further injury. For the extent that he'd been using it, he would have to have incredible pain tolerance. She found herself reluctantly impressed.

"Can you fix it?" Free asked, sounding worried.

"No," she answered. "You're going to be horribly scarred forever."

"What!?"

"Kidding! I'm kidding. Of course I can fix it. Look who you're talking to." A snort. "Idiot."

"What are you gonna-" Free cut himself off with a loud yelp as Eruka pulled his arm with all her strength. The bone realigned and Free was left moaning.

"Hm," Eruka hummed, probing fingers once again gentle. "First try-you're lucky. Usually it takes at least three to get the bone aligned just right."

Free just groaned.

"Oh, hush up. Keep it flat while I get a splint."

Eruka walked across the room and dug through her drawer of medical supplies, humming lightly as she searched. It took some rummaging, but eventually she pulled out a smooth, flat piece of wood she usually used as a splint and a long piece of cloth.

She walked back, feeling Free's eyes on her-not unlike a wounded puppy's-and once more sat down beside her patient. Pulling his arm gently into her lap, she placed the split on his forearm and began carefully but firmly wrapping the fracture with the linen from earlier.

Eruka then stood and, taking the long piece of cloth, fashioned a sling around Free's neck.

"There," she said, helping him put his arm in the sling. "Good and mended."

"Now what?" Free asked.

"Now we sleep," said Eruka. "Not that I'll be able to since you absolutely ruined my bedtime tonight."

"Sleep? You said I shouldn't..." But Eruka was already getting into the bed across the room. "Eruka?"

"Sleep on your back. I'll wake you in an hour to check if you're still alive."

And with a snap of her fingers the room faded to black.