World of Ranicke 02

Jim blushed deeply when she called him sexy and ran a finger down his arm. "Down woman, injured man here and I can't lay there and take it." He had to admit that he rather missed the activity since between her and Nasha he hadn't been celibate in any way. Currently he was almost doing one night at Sorrel's tent and the next and Nasha's. He had a few other offers but right now having two women he was sleeping with was enough. Adding more would just start becoming confusing. He walked out of the tent with her and had an arm around her shoulders.

As they were walking he got a few looks since normally they all wore shirts but after a glance at his back most understood. More than a few looked rather startled with the extent of the wounds and the fact that he was moving around even if slowly. The claw marks ran from his right shoulder down to his left hip. They were healing well but were still red and very obvious from even a fair distance away. By now everyone had heard of what Jim had done for the girl when it came to saving her. It wasn't unusual for a warrior to place themselves in danger but to take on a bear almost single handedly and walk away? That was almost unheard of.

Once at her father's tent he did much the same with the chair and leaned forward and closed his eyes as Sorrel moved behind him to apply the ointment. He hissed slightly as she worked it into the wounds. It was getting better and he wasn't sure what all herbs they were using but he was healing faster than normal but nothing like when the White Lady had healed him. Since his eyes were closed as she worked on him he didn't notice a female Kitsune with a little girl approach the tent.

"Would it be possible for us to talk to warrior Jim?" She was standing about ten feet away from the front of the tent and she was looking at the man in the chair with the Squorrel doing something to his back. Her eyes flickered between the two and Chief Moran when she asked. The little girl was simply clinging to her mother's leg as she was looking at the chief. What Lorna could see of the male was fairly impressive. She had seen humans before but Jim had something about him that the others didn't have.

Jim lifted his head and tensed a bit since it pulled on the muscles of his back somewhat. He took in the woman as well as the girl and recognized her from the tree she had been stuck in. Pain was showing around his eyes but Sorrel was almost done with the ointment. He wasn't really sure what they wanted but he was feeling well enough to talk to her. Before he could say anything Moran spoke.

"That would be totally up to Jim and how he is feeling Lorna." He glanced over at Jim and Sorrel and gave him a small smile. "If you are feeling up to it Jim feel free or you can talk to them tomorrow if that would work better for you."

Jim carefully sat up now that Sorrel was done and looked at the woman. "I don't mind talking to you but not really sure what you want from me." He had simply done what anyone would have done, or in his opinion anyone with any sort of moral or ethical values would do. As he was talking Sorrel handed him another cup of juice which he sipped on. As much as he tended to sweat he drank a great deal of fluids and from the looks of it more than most of the others.

Lorna gave him a bow and then looked at him. "I would like to thank you for helping to save my daughter from the bear. I have talked to some of the other warriors who were with you and they have told stories of your bravery." She drew in a shaky breath. "That you were wounded in doing so greatly upsets me and I am sorry for that. We have something we want to give you in thanks." She nudged her daughter. "This is Tonya."

The little girl moved forward and gave him a shy smile and he could see a tooth missing. She was carrying a very fine wooden box that was a bit over six inches long and maybe two inches wide. "I is sorry you were hurt mister Jim." Her ears flicked back and her tail was tucked close to her bottom and legs. "Please accept this in thanks for saving me along with the others." She handed him the box and stood there waiting for him to open it.

Jim carefully moved so he was sitting somewhat normally on the chair. He carefully leaned forward and stroked the little girls ears. "You really didn't need to but thank you. I was just doing what I was trained for sweetie." She looked up at him as he was talking. "Just do me one favor and never go into the forest again till you are old enough and are told you can. If you do that I will be happy." When she offered the box to him he took it from her.

The box was elegant in it's simplicity and the only real decoration on it was an engraving on the top of some figure he didn't recognize. When he opened it he sucked in a breath since there was a lovely silver bracelet. It looked reasonably heavy and on the side that would go on the back of his wrist was a flat piece that was heavily etched with a stylized Kitsune that looked like he was hunting something. "This is lovely but I didn't do anything to deserve something like this." His other hand reached over and stroked the bracelet and his fingers were shaking just a tiny bit.

Moran came over and looked at it and smiled. "Take it Jim. I know you don't understand our culture very well but what you did really is something of great value. This is a comesurate gift for what you did." He recognized the workmanship and knew the jeweler that had created the piece and that it had belonged to either Lorna's father or grandfather. "I understand your viewpoint but you are not in your world but ours. This is our way of showing appreciation for your having done something of great value." He took the bracelet out and quickly affixed it to Jim's wrist. It was a bit lose but otherwise fit well.

Lorna looked at him and knelt down next to her daughter. "Please warrior Jim take it with my gratitude. You saved my little girl and risked your life in doing so." She reached over and lightly touched his arm as she was speaking. "I have lost one kit already and to have lost a second would have been devastating." Her ears were lowered and her eyes were wide with emotions as she asked. "I would also like to invite you over for a meal when you are healed. Just a meal to thank you as well."

Jim's fingers stroked the bracelet and could tell that it was old from the patina as well as hints of it being worn from wearing. Between Moran and Loran not to mention the eyes that the little girl was giving him he caved in. "I feel bad taking something of such value from you but since you feel so strongly I will accept and thank you very much." It hit him again that this was such a different world and did things differently. If he had been in his world he couldn't have accepted something like this but in this world it was expected.

As he was stroking and looking at the bracelet Lorna slid behind him and glanced at his back and a shape inhale could be heard. "Oh god that wound is horrible." She almost asked him how he was even moving this soon but decided not to. He was going to have a horrible set of scars from the claws and she felt really bad for his getting hurt and for a moment the bracelet almost didn't seem like enough. She had heard about the wound but the reality was worse than she had expected.

Moran came over and wrapped an arm around her. "Thank you for coming past but he needs to eat and relax so he can keep healing. Please feel free to come past in a few days and join us for a meal." He reached down and tickled the girl's ears as well just for good measure and escorted them out of the tent before returning. Jim had his head in his arms and Moran could tell he was trying to deal with the culture shock. "Relax Jim, you are doing fine. I know this has been a huge shock for you but you are doing better than I had expected."

Jim heaved a sort of wavery sigh. "This is just so strange to me. Every time I think I am starting to get a feel for your culture something happens that tosses me for a loop." God his emotions were a muddle of conflicting feelings and they were starting to give him headaches. "If you don't mind Chief I am going to simply relax till the food is delivered. I need a few minutes to add what I just learned to my growing knowledge of your culture."