When a young girl is lost on her own, a kind, tender wolf takes her in and nurses her back to health. This starts a healthy bond of friendship between the two which blossoms into a sort of family-like relationship.

Tribal Human

Thunder echoes its booming voice with lightning flashing across the dreary, dark gray sky. A thunderstorm is currently taking place in the Red Rock territory, home to a local pack of indigenous wolves. Now rain isn't a problem for some, but for others, production and duties usually stop; heavy rain from a thunderstorm can be a sort of dangerous hazard.

One young wolf, a muscular pewter furred female, stares out at the rain from inside of her tent, her nose wiggling occasionally. While she casts her green eyes around the rainy landscape, her eyes fall upon something she has not seen before. It appears to be a lone figure just waltzing aimlessly around the territory. But upon grabbing a cloak to cover herself, Shana steps out of her tent in the pouring rain and later breaks into a run to reach the figure. Upon closer inspection, the she-wolf can hardly believe her eyes!

The figure is a human girl, and she appears to be lost and lonely. Upon further inspection, the young girl appeared to be at least a teenager, and from a different tribe given her garb. And she appears to be unconscious or passed out. Whatever the case, it doesn't look good. Taking the unconscious human girl in her arms, Shana scoops her up and races back to her tent to remove her from the heavy rain.

~~~~~

Moments later, the rain is still pounding outside, though the weather has now escalated into a thunderstorm. The young human girl is now lying on a cot inside of Shana's tent where the wolfess is gently caressing her forehead. The blanket that she draped over the girl added for extra warmth, allowing the girl to build her body heat back up.

To add to this, Shana is rubbing the girl's head with a sponge in order to keep her temperature regulated. While initially checking on her condition, the wolfess noted, "She must have a fever. Maybe I can use some of my herbs to make some tea."

Little does Shana know that her patient is stirring around in the cot, something the wolfess remains oblivious to until she covers herself with her cloak and proceeds to head out - right when she nears the doorway, she hears soft groans and creaks behind her. This causes her to turn around, seeing that her patient is finally awake. She immediately dashes back to the young girl to settle her down. "Oh, you're awake! Lie down, please! You're sick!"

The young woman coughs, "Where am I? And how long have I been out? Who are you, exactly?"

Patiently, the wolfess explains, "You seem to be lost and sick, so I brought you inside of my tent - you are in Red Rock territory now. It has been at least 3 hours since you were comatose. Happy to see you're awake though." An endearing smile comes on Shana's muzzle when she finally introduces herself, "and as for who I am, I am Shana Twain - fellow healer and warrior of the Red Rock tribe! What is your name?"

The girl coughs again, "My name is Amy. I don't even know how long I've been wandering or out. Last thing I remember is passing out. Am I in trouble?"

The wolfess frowns, shaking her head, "No, you're not in trouble, but you're definitely sick. You have a fever."

The sick girl makes a disgusted face while coughing again and rasping in complaint, "I don't like tea; the healers from my tribe would make tea and sprinkle some herbs in it to make it bitter - claims throwing up will purge the sickness from the body."

Horrified, Shana clutches her cheeks and exclaims, "What!?" Disheartened, the wolfess slowly shakes her head. "Amy, forgive me for saying this but I believe that medicinal remedy was meant to kill you. Herbs making the tea bitter? What if you get a stomachache, vomit, and then pass out? It'll do more damage than good!"

Amy scoffs and glares off to the side, averting her gaze away from Shana. Still, she rasps, "You're saying that the healers from my tribe are poisonous. How can you possibly think that?" Here, she turns her brooding, pouty gaze back to the wolfess, establishing her remark, "You never met or seen them, after all!!"

"No, but from what you briefly explained to me, it sounds like one of their dangerous remedies!" Shana points out worriedly. Her ears snap up straight while she makes a pitiful gaze at the human girl before her. Clicking her tongue in frustration, Shana folds her arms, peering out of her tent to watch the heavy rain when she turns back to Amy, forcefully objecting, "I'm going to take control and make you better! No one should have to die from a risky medicinal remedy! And I will take good care of you!"

Amy snorts and folds her arms again, pouting unconvincingly, "Yeah, sure you will. My tribe hasn't even launched a search party for me ever since I went missing. They probably don't care anyways."

"What makes you say that??" Shana blinks at the human girl, questioning her assumption. But when she observes Amy opening her mouth to speak, the wolfess immediately descends on the human girl from seeing her chest heave, followed by a coughing fit.

"Whoa, whoa, easy Amy! Sounds like you have the flu. But from what I can see and hear, you definitely have a cold." With Amy's fit subsiding, Shana gently eases Amy down on the cot while diagnosing her, explaining what she's sick with. Seeing the girl's surprised expression, Shana squeaks, "What?? I'm a healer wolf! Our senses are better than a human's!"

"Are you even sure I have a cold or something? Because it could be something else!" Amy resisted.

Shana folds her arms while exhaling sharply through her nose. Mildly frustrated, the wolfess sighs and admits with a slight eye roll, "I'm not going to beat around the bush here - you do have a cold and you're congested in both the head and the chest." Pausing, she averts her gaze once more to the thunderstorm outside while further explaining, "When the weather breaks, I will collect more herbs to refill my surplus. But for now, I can use whatever resources I have left to make you some tea and some cough drops."

"Cough drops?? What kind of cough drops?" Amy inquired, "Medicated and flavored?"

"The only sweet flavor we have so far is honey. I can also try out apple and citrus but mainly citrus. As far as herbs are concerned, the strong potency of menthol and mint should help at least. I can look for some fruit trees to help out in keeping your Vitamin C up. Other than that, we're somewhat limited in natural supplies." Shana explains, slightly disheartened.

Amy suddenly suggests, "Have you tried going into your village and actually scavenging around for stuff? That works too, y'know!"

Shana perks up, taking her suggestion to heart. Scratching her head, she blushes, "Why didn't we think of that? Good suggestion, Amy! I hope when the rain clears, I can make it out if my paws don't get too dirty."

"Why are you worried about your feet getting dirty when you're a doctor taking care of your patient? Amy remarks towards the wolfess. The she-wolf is about to respond when the tent opens up, followed by a muscular male black wolf entering the tent and shaking himself dry to dispel the excess water from his fur.

"Afternoon, Shana! I brought some more masks over to increase your inventory in case you ran out. I was just dropping by to– uh, who is that and why is she here? Is she sick?" The black wolf is dropping off some face masks to replenish Shana's inventory when he notices Amy lying on the cot, or rather, slouched upright. When asked about why she is here, Shana explains, "I found her outside, sick and passed out; so I brought her inside her tent to nurse her back to health. Her name is Amy, by the way."

With the human girl nodding in agreement, she turns her gaze directly to the black wolf in question. The black wolf, upon turning his gaze to meet Amy, introduces himself. "I am Shadow Elkhart, brother of Taz Elkhart and leader of the Alpine Valley tribe neighboring to the west. And you must be Amy, right? Where are you from?"

Amy huffs, cringing from the intense stuffy sensation inside of her nasal passage. She groans, "I don't even remember - I can't think right now because my head is killing me and I can barely talk…" the more Amy rasps, the more drained she becomes. Seeing the human girl, Shana grows worried. "Amy, you should sleep. You must be exhausted by now."

After snorting and suddenly hacking, she starts to gag amidst the intense stuffiness of her condition. Acting quickly, Shana dashes to a nearby compartment and grabs a thick wooden bowl, hurrying to reach the girl before she throws up. With the Alpine Valley chieftain fully spectating this, Shana reaches Amy a little late right as she begins puking.

Both Shana and Shadow flinch from hearing Amy vomit and once the young girl is done, she wipes her face and moans, "I don't feel so good…"

"I'll grab my brother! He'll know what to do!" Shadow immediately makes a mad dash for the door when Shana grabs him by his shoulder, "Shadow, wait!! Amy's condition is bad enough as it is. And no one else should be catching what she has! Wait until she's better before presenting her!"

"If that's the case, why aren't we wearing masks then?" Shadow questioned her. Shana slaps her head, groaning, "Not thinking straight - I was so focused on making sure she's straight and relaxed."

After putting on a face mask and handing one over to Shadow, Shana exhales, "Sorry - I was so wrapped up in concern over Amy's condition that I wanted to make her get better. If I catch what she's got, it's on me."

Shadow nuzzles Shana reassuringly, remarking, "Glad you're taking full responsibility. And for a young human at that! You should not only be her caretaker but also her adoptive parent."

Shana blinks at Shadow in derision, wondering if he's obtained a second head. She objects to the matter, "Shadow, you're married, aren't you?? I am not married! And worse yet, Amy says her tribe hasn't sent out a search party since last week - they probably don't care about her! What should I do, Shadow?"

Shadow grabs Shana and gently shakes her to talk some sense into her. "Shana, listen to me. You're an ambitious, hardworking wolfess, not to mention one of the most amazing healers I've met! Taz speaks highly of you and no wonder - your remedies are lifesavers!" He pauses when Shana just stares at him, growing doubtful still about Amy and her sick condition. Yet Shadow continues, "You've never given up and you certainly will not throw in the towel - not yet! Shana, if you want some advice on what to do regarding Amy, talk to Taz. He'll know what's best for both of you."

By this time, Amy is already asleep with her chest slowly rising and falling. The two wolves cast a quick glance at Amy, taking note of her slumbering. Then they turn their attention back to each other where Shadow backs off, keeping his hands raised while reminding her, "Remember Shana, tell Taz what's going on and he will be the one who gives you his final verdict!"

Shadow takes his leave, making Shana breathless and anxious. The uneasy she-wolf remains silent for a time, slowly turning to stare at the sleeping human. While contemplating, she mutters, "Talk to Taz… yeah… I think that's what I'll do! Shadow's right - maybe I should go see him."

Casting one final glance at the thunderstorm outside, Shana grabs her cloak and removes her face mask, mumbling, "It's for the best - for me, for Amy…" the female wolf drapes her hood over her head and exits out of her tent, leaving a sleeping Amy all alone.

~~~~~

Amy belongs to HazukiWolfX from ToyHouse; Shana, Shadow, and Taz (mentioned) belong to me!