I Once Saw the Past [Trebias]

[seraaches]

His forelegs worked fine now, but his hind still gave him trouble at times; random pangs of weakness and pain caused his tail end to give out. Still, Elias often forced him to push past it. Like now. Asking him stupid questions he'd answered a hundred times before.

Drawing a slightly shaky breath, Rai tried to force his mind to focus even through the pain. "Which one, Elias?" he asked almost flippantly. "Since there's only one plant here in the Marsh..."

Still once he was able to take another breath or so, he could see the one the canine was pointing at. It looked like a buttercup, but Rai knew it wasn't. He had to cast about for the right answer, but it soon came. "Lesser spearwort. Sometimes used as a poultice to help draw the humours from the pained area."

[Kiki]

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[Trebias]

"Well aren't you smart as a whip? Witty, too." El was pleased that Rai could use his brain. He might have to call things off if Rai couldn't think, learn, and plan. Good thing for the kid he wasn't retarded then. Hurrah for not having learning disabilities, too.

"And don't be a smart alec, speak plain here, kid. There's no teacher gonna tell you you're wrong. Okay, I'll tell you you're wrong, but at least there's nobody to worry about laughing at you. Besides me. But it's all in good fun, and I'll try to be sensitive, or whatever. For a while. Then I'll lose interest."

He saw another one. "Oh, look at this red silk grass. Make a poutice from this, and wounds bind scary fast. Like, you can watch it happening fast. It's pretty rare, but at least it still works if it's dried out. I save it for emergencies. You usually have to use it on deep cuts, but it works on bones if you want to cut down into them." He pulled the grass carefully up, getting the equally potent roots as well. He grimmaced, leaving it on the ground. "Tastes really bad, though. Tastes like what a lot of people think poison tastes like, reckon." He put the herbs in his pouch. "Now, do me a favor and bring me that when you feel better and up to wondering around, maybe playing a little. You'll make it more safely than most."

[seraaches]

The colt inspected the grass closely before Elias put it away. Here's hoping he didn't grab the wrong thing and return with something that could kill them. Blast it. He gave a small sigh towards that thought and to Elias' last statement. Play? He just wanted to go back into the cabin and curl up into a little ball to sleep for hours. But if he knew Elias at all, he knew that the man wouldn't -let- him go back until he'd been outside for the appropriate length of time.

He had a bag slung over his neck now, much like El's, so he could help with the gathering as well. So, for now, the boy dutifully followed the "suggestion" and went to "play", which really just meant that he'd be looking for the red silk grass. He moved off carefully, legs still wobbly.

After about half an hour, the young horse was on his way back to the hut, taking slow and careful steps the whole way.

[Trebias]

"You did a good job, kid. Thanks for gathering for me, too. Pull up some floor and we'll eat." Elias had plans for the kid once he was feeling better. A lot of endurance training, a lot of strength training. All this would be disguised as work on the cabin and around the grounds. That was the best kind of exercise, in El's opinion, because it built work ethic right along with the body.

~~Later~~

"Some day one or both of us will have hands, and all this will be a lot easier, kid." El said this through teeth clenched around a rope he was pulling tight to help the water-tight integrity of the cabin's roof. "For now, though, we'll just do what we can with our mouths, and my paws and your hooves." He pulled the rope tight. "Let's finish up and get some lunch."

[seraaches]

Shinrai grunted as he continued to pull on his side of the rope until the canine signalled that they were finished. Together with El's help they got this side taken care of and Rai gave a sigh mixed with a groan as he stretched sore muscles.

"Sometimes I think all you do is come up with busy work for me," the colt complained. He took a moment to stretch out each of his legs, one after another. Sometimes his left hind would stiffen up and still give him some problems but, overall, he was doing a great deal better.

Without being bidden, the young equine went inside and fetched the basket they had packed up earlier. Generally, Elias had them eat outside. Rai thought it was because the man didn't want more of a mess inside, though he had little reason to complain now; the horse was well enough to do chores inside and El took advantage of that. Perhaps the canine was just used to them eating outdoors?

[Trebias]

"Nah, not busy work, but you do get to help me with all the chores I've neglected because I need help on them. Lucky you. It's good for you. Gives you some color."

He wolfed down his meal and regarded the colt seriously. "I figure you're strong enough to start giving you the heavy stuff. Some of it might make you a little queasy, but I won't give you enough to hurt you. These are the poisons people are most likely to try and kill you with, kid. It'll take a while, maybe a treatment once a week for a year, but you'll be able to season your food with any of this junk by the time I'm done with you. Remember what I said about making someone cough up their stomach lining? That can be you in a short year. It's just as nasty if you put it on a trap, though. I've seen it. And you'll probably never hear that story. If you're ready we'll start that after lunch. The food will absorb some of it, make it a little easier the first time." He was uncharacteristically serious, which might seem a little unsettling.

[seraaches]

Actually, the seriousness and Elias' expression put up Rai's back, so to speak, but the hint at a tantalizing story made the horse almost wistful. He wanted to know more about -that-, not about his own stomach lining coming up.

With such a 'fun' passtime after lunch, Rai didn't eat as quickly as the canine. He wasn't looking forward to it at all. With a sigh, however, he finished his food and rose to put away their dishes and things. It was a little difficult, as usual, to get plates put away, but he did manage it.

He carried everything back inside with the basket, though he only put it on the counter for now. He hesitated only a moment, then moved outside again to join Elias in front of the cabin. He was... a lot more nervous about this than he cared to admit. "So. Wot are we ingesting again?"

[Trebias]

"This one shuts down your nervous system in large doses. A lot of them do that, so we're going to start with one that just does that. Just rub some on your lips a little to start. If you accidentally swallow any, the food will absorb it and you'll be okay."

Elias showed Rai how do proceed, though truthfully, he could have eaten the whole sample without ill effect at this point. "Poisons work by causing some process of your body to stop working. Sometimes it's your nervous system, sometimes your heart, sometimes your lungs. There are a couple that I'll only do with a healer around, so we'll work out a time period to stay near him for a while. He knows how I work, even if he frowns on it. Your body will absorb this through your lips. You'll feel a little sick, but no worse than you have been lately, I reckon. We'll move on as we can. You can speed up the process by really pushing through your exercises. the better shape you're in, the easier it is to build up your immunity."

[seraaches]

Wot the colt wanted to ask-- but did not-- was how, with how sick he had been lately, was it a good idea for him to be ingesting -poison- that would also make him sick. Still, arguing with Elias worked only sometimes and he had already argued over this one for several hours and the canine was adamant that he do this. So. Here they were. Rubbing poison onto their lips. Gads, this was such a not good idea.

The boy watched how the man did it carefully, despite his inner frustration at the act. If he was going to do it, he wanted to do it in the safest manner possible. He would have the best chance of surviving this as he possibly could. He followed suit and waited in anxious silence, holding his breath without realizing it.

The poison was fast acting, but, as Elias had known, it wasn't strong enough just rubbed on his lips to do much else but make him feel overall poorly. Rai fought the need to sway, ears pinned back in obvious discomfort. Oh, man, this -bit-.