Username: KittenGirl2005
Lion Name: Tupelo
Lion Gender: Male
Pride: Summitfall Pride
Pride Status: Member
The Hard Worker: Tupelo pawed the herbs into separate piles.
Rosemary goes there, dock there, horsetail over there, he thought.
He glanced up to see a black and white lion make his way over, holding up his forepaw. Tupelo recognized him as Yang, the leader of the pride.
"That last kill was harder than it should have been," Yang growled, sitting down next to Tupelo. "The gazelle got some big idea in its head and speared my paw with one of its horns."
He held it out for Tupelo to see. Tupelo almost cringed at the sight of the torn flesh.
"That should be pretty easy to fix," he said, ducking into his den. Reaching for his storage cleft, Tupelo brought out a swath of cobwebs and trotted back over to where Yang was. He chewed dock, marigold, comfrey, and horsetail into a poultice, then secured it on with the cobweb.
Yang flexed it. "Thanks, Tupelo."
Tupelo flicked one ear back and grinned. "No problem."
Yang padded away to where the lionesses were dishing out that evening's meal. Tupelo picked up the herbs in his jaws and put them back inside his den. There was a specific spot for each one, with the tansy next to the wall, the juniper berries almost touching the ground, and his supply of watermint in the corner.
By the time he had finished, the sun was almost touching the horizon. Tupelo stared at it for a moment, then started off into the forest that surrounded Summitfall Pride's camp.
A lioness darted in front of him. It was Hera, Yang's mate.
"And where do you think you're going?" Hera demanded.
Tupelo tried to slip past her into the trees. "There's still some light left. I was just going to see if I could gather any more herbs before dusk."
Hera snorted and used her tail to bar his path. "Not now, you're not. You're going to wear yourself out if you keep going."
"Oh, come on. I haven't done that much."
"Right. You've only trekked halfway across the savannah and back to get herbs, put Kimzi's shoulder back in place, helped Aster with her cough, saved that cub from drowning, and treated Yang's paw. I'd consider that more than enough work for one self-respecting lion, don't you?"
Tupelo's tail twitched irritatedly. He knew that he had done all that, but wasn't there still time to do more? He wanted to be the best healer he could possibly be for the pride, and that required doing everything he could to help them.
But he knew that Hera had a point. If he kept up this breakneck pace, he would soon tire himself out and injure himself.
He sighed and allowed her to lead him back to camp.
Hera stopped him at the entrance to his den. "I know that you don't think you're worth all that much, since you can't hunt. And I know that all this work is just your way of trying to make it up to us." She laid her tail-tip on his shoulder. "But you don't have to prove that you're a capable lion, Tupelo. You're already incredibly important to the pride."
Tupelo gave her a half-grin. "If you say so."
She bid him goodnight, and he stepped inside his den. But as he took out his borage stores to go through them again, Tupelo was already plotting how he could work harder than ever tomorrow.
573 words
