The truth?  The petite deer-fox had been... Avoiding everyone.  Or.  Most everyone.  It was hard to avoid her father.  Who had been more than understanding, when they returned home that day, when she burst into tears and let the questions explode.  Demands.  Answers.  Why.  Why.  Why.

She could not say she understood.  Not when Kydobi's skull slammed into the ground.  Not when her father tried to sooth her.  She could not say she understood.  Not entirely.  But she was coming to understand... Something.  Her father had known what the Pitt was when they arrived.  A year ago.  A year.  He had known.  He had sought it.  Because he knew the Pitt had been feared and fear was a wonderful defense.  To protect her.

In a year the world changed.  So what was one more turn-around?

She understood.  A little.  What her father wanted.  But what did the others want?  Violence.  Blood.  War.  And her? ... She didn't know, but she was tired of seeing her friends drop dead.  Tired of losing loved ones.  As far as she was concerned Kydobi was dead because of the Pitt itself, not their enemies... Which didn't make sense to her.

Her father must've wanted to give her something to do.  To stop the relentless circling of her young mind.  Soon enough, he had tasked her with teaching.  Teaching again.  To teach was another way to learn.  Aine relented easily enough, finding comfort in tending her herbs, in assembling and organizing, in study and practice.

Of course, the petite acolyte still found teaching frightening.  Regardless of prep.  But she'd done it before, she could do it again... Probably.  So quietly, Aine began assembling a simple collection of herbs just outside the White Temple.  Just a few, freshly-grown plants used in the most basic first aid.  Each she had set gently atop a large leaf, to avoid touching the ground directly.  Aligned very neatly beside one another.  Horsetail.  Marigold.  Chamomile.  Bindweed.  Poppy seeds.  Aloe vera.  Thyme.

Okay.  There was that all too familiar squeeze in her chest.  Her mouth drying.  Slowly, she sucked in a breath, squeezing her eyes shut for a moment before releasing.  Okay.

"H... Hey!  Ga-gather for a first aid lesson!"

Aine belonged to the very top of the vulpine's priorities -- he could tend other matters so long as he knew his daughter was okay.  She hadn't been lately however and the faerie knew there was little else to do than encourage her to be busy; to be productive.  From her broken leg to Kydobi, she required distractions and somewhere concrete to stand; some sense of certainty in something.

The change in direction the Pitt decided to take meant now, more than ever, their members needed a basic understanding of medical procedure.  For moons the Imperator had been kindling Aine's passion for life -- encouraging her studies to linger on the practice of tending, both to plants and to other creatures.

Gael possessed no doubts that very passion could be what saves a number of Pittian lives in the future.

The vulpine settled nearby in silence, nodding his encouragement -- despite all her uncertainties about teaching, she would do just fine.

Sweeny.  Barb.  Jack.  Her students.  She noted her father, taking some comfort in his steady presence.  The sense of order he always brought.  Her attention lingered on Jack however, feeling her cheeks warming considerably.  Magik.  The fae knew some "magik"; if her connection to the plants and earth was considered such.

Her ears flicked back and forth, hazel hues soft with the thought he may not be a good student as he said.  No.  She thinks he'll be okay.  They all would, she hopes.  "I-I'm just going to go over some first aid.  It's not as-as um complicated as it sounds, I promise.  Y-you don't have to worry too much."

Breathe.  Aine shifted her weight, holding back a wince from her broken leg.  "'m gon-gonna start with treating open wounds."  Most common injury after all.  With a smile, she tapped the marigold and horsetail gently.  "This is marigold, 'an this is horsetail.  They both do the same thing, so it's okay if you don't um-don't remember one."

"If you've been... Been cut or somethin', 'an you're bleeding, they help stop that.  They both fight infection too."

"Make sense so far?  I'll talk um-talk about broken bones next... If no one has any questions?  I don't- I don't mind going over things more."