A noise outside captures my attention. A vaguely familiar sound reaches my ears.

“Emerald? You in there! Damn it, it's so dark.” More rustling. “Come out, please, if you're there!” Hm. I climb out.

“There you at!” Wykren smiles at me. “How you been?” I growl at him for a second. He laughs at it.

“Right. Sorry. Here. I wasn't sure what you liked best so I brought a bunch of things.” He lays a basket next to my feet. I take a whiff. He opens it for me and hands me something that resembled meat? He takes a bite of it. I stare at him.

“It's ok. See.” He hands me a bite too. I lick it and shake my head. He laughs at me again.

“Sorry, guess you don't like salt. My bad. I'll remember that for later. Here. Fish. Fried.” He hands me a shrunken piece. I lick it once and gulp it down.

“Fish. Ok. Now where's getting somewhere.” He hands me things he calls fruit or vegetables... I try some, but not much stick with me... The boy seems to be enjoying himself, though. I feel strangely calm around him. I wonder why?

“So anyways, I have a few weeks to myself, my Parents went away to sell our crafts all the way to Astri, oh, that's a big up north from here, it'll take them some time to return, so I'll be coming around a little more. Is that ok?” I ask Emerald. She blinks at me. I smile.

“Mind if I pet you?” I reach out. She puts her head closer to me. My hand sinks into the fur again. I scratch her ear and move to her neck. I stroke her back and her side. I feel the side of her stomach. Maybe that wasn’t my imagination, after all? She seems to be friendly… As far as beasts of that size should be?

“Are you purring?” I ask and scratch her side a bit harder. She lays down on her side, exposing her soft belly. I laugh and continue petting her. Something hard brushes against my hand. I dig for the thing in the fur.

“What's this?” I stare at the piece of wood, sticking out from Emerald's belly... I touch it and she growls at me.

“Sorry...” I move my hand away... How long has it been there? The wound is completely healed around it... This is bad. If it were fresh, I could pull it out no problem, but now... I'd need to cut it open... Who knows what is going on inside in there... How is she alive? Because of her size? It’s not reaching deep enough? Who cares! I gotta do something! I try to examine the spot as carefully as I can... This is bad... I have to do to something... Like what! I have no clue about these things! I've never been so disappointed with myself for knowing so little...

“It's getting late. I'll go back now, ok?” I pat Emerald one more time. “I'll be back tomorrow! Promise!” I pick my basket up and leave. What do I do now? I walk back...

“Oi! Wykren! What ya find! Oi! OI!”

“Huh? Oh, hello there.” I snap out of it and wave.

“What ya find? Bring anything good?” The old man asks me, pointing to the basket.

“Huh? Ah, nah.” I smile. It clicks to me! “Have you seen the healer around?”

“Oh, aah, hmm...” He takes his time.

“Ya know, you may not look that old, but you sure play the part well.” I glare at him. The man laughs.

“Can't help it!”

“The healer! Seen her?” I try again.

“Yeah, I think she's home. Not that I seen her out today?”

“Thanks! See ya!” I run off to the old woman. Although Noxians don't really age, rather, not that anyone can tell, but when you're a normal age teenager - everyone is old. Especially because they see you as a child no matter how old you get. I knock on the door. No answer. I try louder.

“It's open!” A muffled sound comes in from the inside. I push the door open.

“Pardon the intrusion!”

“Come in, come in! Oh, hello.” The woman nods to me. “Well? What can I get ya?”

“Hello.” I nod too. “I, I have a question?”

“Of course, you do, you wouldn't have come over otherwise.” She smiles at me.

“Yeah, right.” I smile.

“Well? What is it? Girl trouble?” She smirks at me. I feel my face blush. I shake my head. Not that kind of girl... She laughs at me. “Well? What is it then?” The healer tries again.

“How do you remove an old stab wound?”

Her gaze changes. “Define old?”

“A piece of wood stuck inside the flesh long enough for the wound around it to have healed up, leaving the wood inside...” I die down. This was a bad idea... I shouldn't have come...

“Is there someone injured like that?”

“No!” I lie. “I had just had my ankle hurt and as I was walking around with the splint around it, and um, I had this thought like what if I would just use the wood to jab it inside, to help it stay put? Ya know?” That's the worse lie in history of lies... The healer leans in closer.

“You're a weird one, aren't ya?” I nod and she laughs again.

“Well, Ravos do something similar, except that you can't really use just any piece of wood for healing. You'd get a nasty injection and could end up losing the limb completely. But, I can't say it hasn't happened before... Especially on the battle field. Although, in those cases the object in question is small enough, say like a splinter, making it easily overlooked when treated in a rush. How big of an object are we talking about here?” She continues to rustle between some of the bottles on the shelves, behind the counter.

“It's in theory only. I'm just curious how it's treated?”

“Oh well, standard foreign object removal. If it can't be pulled out, you'll need to cut it, either around it or some other angle, depending on the situation. Next, you're gonna wanna remove the thing and clean the wound. Boiling water would do the trick if you don't have the right herbs or solutions. Booze works too.” She waves a bottle at me.

“But only the hard stuff.” She winks at me, taking a sip. “Oh and depending on how big the wound is - you may gonna wanna stitch it up. For flesh wounds I recommended a fishing hook.” She bends a finger to show me. “Then just patch it up and make sure the wound does not open or catch an infection. Watch out for fever and heavy sweats.” She turns back to me. “How'd I do?”

I nod. “Very informative. Thank you.” It was nothing like I imagined. I smile.

“Well?”

“Well what?” I ask, a bit confused.

“What do you need? Herbs? Tools? Gauze? All of the above?”

“None.” I smile again. Thank you for your time. I bow and leave. Most of that we should have back at the house. It'll be too suspicious if I start buying all that stuff... I come back home and gather up anything useful I can find... I'm not sure it's a good idea to bring her back here... I'll need to do the best I can myself... How will I pull that off is beyond me... I stop by the workshop. Her fur is too thick... I take a few knives, gauze, a fishing hook, some leather thread... I have a feeling this would work better... The only problem - will she let me? I pack the things up, along with some fish and go to sleep...

I leave at the first sign of dawn. I have no idea how long it could take. Rather, it's just an excuse, since I barely managed to sleep at all... I trip a few times on my way there. I get to her tree-lair and quietly call out. Emerald shows herself to me.

“Hi, gorgeous.” That’s what Dad always calls Mom. Does this count as stealing? I grin. I pat her nose. “I got some more fish for ya.” I show her one. She takes it and gobbles it up in no time. I smile. She sniffs the basket for more. Her fur and whiskers tickle me and I giggle.

“Yes, yes I have more, wait, it's for later. No! Stop!” She knocks me down on my ass. “I'll let you have them all with ONE CONDITION!” I try to hold her back. She stops and stares at me. I clear my throat.

“Alright, here's the deal. I know you have something stuck inside of you. It must have been hurting for long. I want to help you get rid of it.” I speak to her, without having a single clue whether or not she understands me. I continue.

“It will hurt. But I want to help. Will you let me?” I hold her gaze. She whips her tail a few times and lays down on her stomach.

“I need you to turn on your side.” I tell her taking the items out. She turns, lazily.

“Good girl.” I get the fire started and kneel down next to her. “I'm sorry, but please.” I look at her, waiting for a sign. Nothing happens. “Ok then.” I look for the stick again. A rumble tells me I found it. I carefully shave the fur around it. Poor girl... I take the other knife and hold it inside the flame for a bit. Hope that does the trick. I hold it over the flesh. My hands tremble.

“This will hurt.” I whisper and cut into the skin. Emerald growls a little. “Sorry girl, hang in there.” I cut deeper. Blood flows out. I have no idea if this will be enough... I try the stick. Not a budge. Damn it. I make another cut, on the other side of the stick. Emerald growls again, whipping her tail.

“Almost done! Promise!” I try the wood again, it moves! A little, but moves! Come on! I gently pull it. No use. I glance over at Emerald.

“Forgive me.” I tell her and pull on the stick as hard as I can. Emerald roars loud, scaring the birds in the tress and jumps back at me. I lay flat on my back on the ground with her jaws a whisker away from my neck. I swallow hard and close my eyes... I feel her breath on my skin... The stench of it... I hold my breath and wait. Yet I fell calm, even with her jaws as close to my life as they are... Such a strange feeling this is?.. She growls one more time and steps back. I look at the damned stick in my left hand... Emerald licks the cut.

“Ah! No! Wait!” I jump over. She growls at me again. I step back. “Let me.” I tell her. “Please.” I stare back at her. Somehow, she understands me and lays down again. I scramble for the “needle” and the "thread." I turn to the fire and it's out... Damn. I start it up again and use the water from my pouch to clean the blood of a little bit. I stick the needle into the flame and tie the thread. I exhale quick.

“Bear with me.” I tell Emerald again. I pinch the flesh and stab through it. It goes in rough. Emerald's body rumbles. Her tail whips to the sides. “It hurts. I know. Bear it. Please.” Another stab. Another growl. Another stab. Another rumble. Another stab. Another painful writhe...

“Almost done. Just a bit longer.” I tell her. Almost there... I tie the thread off. “There.” I put the hook down. I use some of my water to wash my hands off. I dry them off and take the rest of the fish out and lay it in front of Emerald.

“You did great.” I pat her and she growls at me, but eats the fish still. I chuckle and gather up my things. Ok. One last problem... How do I tell if she has a fever in case...? I should have asked that... I mean, how do cats even sweat? I sigh.

“How did you like them?” I ask Emerald. She gives me a weird look and goes back to snoozing. I laugh a little. “I'll bring something else tomorrow, ok?” I lay down next to her on the ground. “Hey, do me another favor. Lay on your side till it heals, ok?” I pat her. She rumbles at me again, but turns still. I giggle. “Good girl...”

He didn’t get scared when I jumped him… Nothing was stopping me from ripping his throat out… He called it “help,” but it hurts more now than with that stick inside my body… Yet I did as told… Why?