Meryl was by far one of the most pleasant wolves Nootau had met. He like Isola a lot, but those in her family, usually directly related, all tended towards the ‘I’m the best there is’ streak. It was no wonder they had family problems. However, the other pack members, and the mates of all of the white wolves seemed by far the most pleasant wolves he’d met so far. Nootau was enjoying the company of Niviaq, and she seemed in the same spirit as Meryl. She was a good wolf, through and through. Nootau smiled at her comment and nodded, “Yeah. I wish I had gotten to know him better while I was there. I only met him just before I left. In fact, I met him under similar circumstances. He pulled a stick out of my leg.”

He tilted his head she examined the wound and he nodded in understanding. This wasn’t the first time he’d had quills pulled out of him. Her next sentence caused a bright grin to form on his features and a light laugh bubbled up from his chest. She certainly was just a darling wolf! Nootau couldn’t pin point her age, but though he knew she had to be more on the adult side of things, he kept thinking of her as a peer. It was her energetic and playful demeanor that cause the thought. He promised her with a jovial wink, “I won’t bite, but I can’t promise that I won’t snap at you.”

Then, he prepared himself to get the barbed weapons out of his tail. At first, he tensed, but upon remembering Meryl’s advice about relaxing (that it made things come out easier), he forced his muscles to loosen. The placement of her paw on his flank surprised him, but he didn’t move or in any way feel uncomfortable. She was the healer, and he was confident she knew what had to be done, so he allowed her full control of the situation. He felt a little panicky, though. He knew the pain of quills coming out, and he was none too eager to feel that again.

His ear perked towards her at her words. How… strange. Just in Diveen, Heyel had told him crying was weakness. For some reason, though… her words sat better with him. Nootau had never cried before in pain and he certainly wasn’t going to make a habit of crying He forced a grin onto his face as he tried to keep his thoughts anywhere but the sharp pain that he was about to go through. “You girls, always telling us boys it’s okay to be emotional,” Nootau snorted in feigned disgust, with an obvious humorous tone laces with it and then he nodded, “Yup. I’m ready.” As ready as I’ll ever be, Nootau thought to himself.

The first one was the worst. The terrible ripping feeling the serrated edge of the quill created as it was pulled out quickly was startling and far more painful that he had remembered. He yelped loudly and flinched, flipping his front half onto his stomach, and would have completely leaped up if not for Niviaq’s strong paw preventing it. Nootau’s held breath was released in a forced exhale as he laid himself back down on his side. “Sorry,” Nootau muttered, and then squeezed his eyes shut to handle the next quill.

The next two were handled better and only Nootau’s muscles contracted in a controlled flinch. However, at the last one, a single tear did escape the corner of either of his eyes. He was relieved that he only had four quills stuck to him! He couldn’t imagine what terrible shape he’d have been in if there had been anymore. He jumped to his paws when Niviaq had stepped away. He shook himself with a huff of relief before he turned his blue and orange eyes on her again. “… Remember, not a word,” Nootau told her and then said, “Thanks for stopping to help.” He then sat down and held his tail as he licked away the blood, though his focus wasn’t truly on cleaning the wound. He just wanted the punctures to stop burning!