[div style="width: 45%; text-align: justify; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -1px; font-family: times new roman;"]♡ — Roan hadn't been around for the birth of his cousin's children. It wasn't anything intentional or malicious – it wasn't as if he and Goldie were feuding or anything of the sort – he had just been busy. The young apprentice had been learning a lot as of late, and while Goldie was technically his mentor for general apprentice tasks, he had to do most of his sage training all on his own, since Idyll wasn't around anymore. As such, he ended up getting most of his knowledge from books, and from the occasional talk with Rosemary, whenever he was able to track her down. He thought he was doing pretty well, and Goldie had been quick to praise him when he did his lesson on broken bones, but he still felt uneasy. He was young, and there were plenty of others who could surpass him in knowledge, so he had to work twice as hard as any of them, hence his constant busyness. That wasn't even mentioning the fact that he hadn't been sleeping much as of late, his strange dreams growing worse and worse by the day. He was sure it would only be a little while until his mother noticed.

He had been attempting to nap when Goldie had given birth, and by the time he had woken up, the majority of the drama had already gone down. He knew nothing of that, however, having been cooped up in his family's home. Unaware of what was happening down the shore, Roan had shaken off the last grasping claws of grogginess before he picked up one of his many medical books, and his satchel. He would head into the rainforest today, and see if he could find anything useful to add to his collection. Taking a deep breath, the siamese pulled the door to the hut open carefully, slipping out and padding quickly and silently over the sand. Roxanne had been worrying about him less as of late, but he knew she still didn't like him being near the rainforest. He was around halfway there when a strange noise caught his attention – a stifled and pained crying noise. Confused and concerned, the boy looked around for a moment before he stumbled upon a white feline, with scratch marks across her face and a pained, angry look in her glimmering eyes. He had seen her once or twice before, but didn't even know her name, really. Feeling awkward, the boy shifted his paws in the sand before he spoke, softly, "Hey, uh... are you alright? Those scratches look like they hurt... I could help you, maybe."
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[div style="width: 45%; text-align: justify; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -1px; font-family: times new roman;"]♡ — Roan could remember seeing Aphra with her gold pearl necklace before, even if he had never heard her name. She had always been at the peripheral of his vision, present, but never his true focus, until now. He found himself wondering where her necklace had gone, his blue gaze lingering over where her paw was before it moved back up to her face, not wanting to be rude. He didn't know how much the accessory meant to her, but he could tell it was a sore spot. The hissing meant little to him, and didn't make him recoil in the slightest, mainly because the boy knew people could get defensive when they were injured. Not only from the many books he had read, but from his firsthand experiences, watching his mama and others end up injured and irritable. He supposed it made sense to feel that way – after all, he hadn't exactly felt great after he had scratched his leg on his first flight attempt, although he had reacted less with anger, and more with sadness.

Upon hearing Aphra's soft questioning of his abilities, Roan felt a grin break out across his face, meant to be reassuring while also filled with excitement. He had helped out a couple of people with smaller injuries thus far, but this would be his first real big injury. He knew he could do it, though. After all, how would he get experience without going to work? Nodding his head at Aphra, Roan mumbled softly as he slipped his satchel from his waist, digging through it for bandages and the herbs that he would need to help out, "I'm sure, I promise! I'm only in training right now, but I've been reading up a lot, and I know how to help with wounds like that and make sure they don't get infected. It might be a little awkward since they're right across your face, but... may I?" He held up his roll of bandages and a couple of the herbs he would need, his wings shifting nervously upon his back as he spoke.
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[div style="width: 45%; text-align: justify; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -1px; font-family: times new roman;"]♡ — Roan felt a sense of relief flood him when Aphra agreed to let herself be helped, nodding his head enthusiastically before mumbled, "Ah– okay! Don't worry, I'll have you fixed up in no time." The young tom then turned to look down at his satchel, pulling out the last of the herbs he would need for the poultice. He luckily had bandages instead of cobwebs, which lessened the chances of infection significantly, but he also knew that the poultice would help the stinging. After a couple of moments of preparation, the boy moved forward, carefully moving to apply the poultice to the wounds as he muttered, "Sorry if this hurts a little... it'll sting at first, but it'll make the swelling and stuff go down." Once he had taken care of the wounds, he put his herbs aside and grabbed the bandages, sitting back on his hind paws to apply them, having to be very cautious not only to put them on correctly, but also make sure the poultice didn't get pushed into Aphra's eyes. Eventually the cuts were covered, and Roan found himself grinning in satisfaction, saying softly, "So... how does it feel? Hopefully the stinging should've gone away."
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[div style="width: 45%; text-align: justify; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -1px; font-family: times new roman;"]♡ — Roan felt a burst of happiness within his chest when Aphra told him that her wounds felt better, pride and satisfaction mingling in the grin on his muzzle. His first time really treating someone, and it had gone well! He couldn't wait to tell mama, whenever he saw her today. She would probably be so pleased with him... the boy was broken from his thoughts when Aphra spoke again, asking him what his name was and introducing herself. For some odd reason, when he heard her name – Aphra Cipher – it made his stomach jump before sinking, an oddly sick feeling gripping him. He wasn't sure why, it wasn't as if she had said anything wrong, she had just been polite and introduced herself... still, a feeling of unease lingered, even as he forced a smile, "My name is Roan Ó Foaláin-Roux. It's nice to meet you, Aphra." He then said, his tail flicking behind him as he gave his satchel a little pat, almost affectionately, "And you can feel feel to come and see me whenever you need medical help! I wanna be a sage here, so I've got lots of knowledge and help... sometimes gathering the herbs all by myself can be a bit hard, but I should always be stocked up." It felt a bit odd, telling Aphra he could come to him anytime even as the paranoid feeling hung over his head, but it wasn't her fault he felt this way.
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