V
Pax Vobiscum
The Wolf is silent; too silent. Kaede keeps her one eye in motion, between him and the herbs she soaks in water once it has come to boil. She uses the gentle antiseptic to wash the wound, and takes note of the odd scars that pepper the body of the young woman. Blood stains them all, and though they are scars it is fresh blood, darkening to a rusty brown crust on her skin. Kaede washes the stain away from one or two of the scars, but there are no wounds beneath the blood and so she turns back to the deeper wound.
The skin has been torn; Kaede can see that the wounds has been made by claws, but it I a strange wound, as if a hand had reached into the flesh of this woman and torn something out of her. Muscles and tissue have been rent in strange patterns, but Kaede only shakes her head, and packs the wound with cotton and a healing poultice.
"You are through?"
Kouga has been so silent while she works that the sound of his voice startles Kaede into jumping.
"Well? Are you through, miko?"
Hesitantly, Kaede nods, her eye moving now between the woman and the Wolf.
"I am, indeed. But only for now; it's a rather serious wound and the dressing and poultice I have bound over it will need to be changed twice a day until she heals."
"Twice a day? For how long?"
Kaede shakes her head.
"I can't say, exactly. Until the wound closes; two weeks, perhaps a month...it depends on her body, on if she can eat well, and rest well -"
"Impossible! I can't stay here for that long. Tomorrow; only until tomorrow morning, because by tomorrow's nightfall I have other places to be."
Delicately, Kaede tries to broach the subject that most concerns her.
"This young woman needs my care, youkai Kouga. She is miko, and not of your kind. Perhaps – perhaps it would be best if you were to leave her here with me..."
But before she has finished speaking she knows that he will not agree, can see it in his face.
"No. No, miko, I will not leave this woman with you. But you're right. She does need care. You won't come with me; you wouldn't survive the journey...or the destination."
Kouga stands then, stretches stiff muscles, and crosses his arms. He looks down imposingly at the old miko, and deep within his blue eyes is a flicker of red.
"Do what you have to do to make sure she is ready to travel by morning; I'll be carrying her, keep that in mind. Whatever she needs – herbs, bandages, whatever...get that ready too. I'll tend her myself, until she's well again. In the morning, you will show me what needs to be done."
And he wrinkles his nose, as if to say how annoying.
Kaede only nods; what else is there to do?
This girl is a stranger to her, even if she bears a familiar face; a nameless stranger, for whom she bears no responsibility, for whom she can claim no responsibility even if she thinks the girl is doomed to a terrible fate.
Girl...I wonder who you are?
Her thoughts mimic Kouga's, but she doesn't know it.
A/N: Ah...hello again? This is an apology chapter, not tomorrow's chapter, which will be number six. As I missed one yesterday, you know, and felt rather bad about it...
Plus I'm rather ahead and getting more so, so there's no harm done by feeding you, oh readers. Therefore...enjoy! This chapter's title, Pax Vobiscum, means "peace be with you". *Note: Slight edit, Kaede does only have one eye. My thanks to the guest reviewer who pointed this out so that it could be fixed! Also thanks to...someone else? Who said that Kouga had suddenly brown eyes in this one chapter. Oops...fixed that too!
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