You're Completely Bonkers.

It was a rather calm, peaceful day in Osulas when Ryder decided to travel to the big city in search of herbs that he might not already have or other valuables that needed to be bought. The hippocampus waded through the crowds of horses, stopping every now and then to either talk to someone that he knew or look at a merchant's stand. This trip was a much needed distraction from sitting in his home where his thoughts tended to drift to his lost wife, his mind whirling with thoughts and ideas of what had happened and if it had been his fault. Ryder bit his tongue, shaking his head as if to shake away the thoughts from his mind. He didn't need to think about her. She had made her choice, and he needed to move on.... but moving on was proving to be more difficult than he had thought.

The world seemed to erupt with chaos in the moment that his attention lapsed from the present, and when he finally came to, he had to jump out of the way of a mare as she streaked through the crowds, running full speed with tears staining her face. His blue eyes filled with worry, but when he looked around at the horses around him, it was as if no one had even noticed. They all went back to their business like someone hadn't just ran through the crowd crying. With a frown set on his face, the medicine horse sought after the mystery mare, following the path that she had taken through the crowd and into the wilds surrounding the city.

As someone living in the Zuiseset, Ryder had learned how to track, especially since his son got into trouble and needed a bit of rescuing sometimes. His eyes were trained on her hoofprints in the sand. He picked up the pace, trotting through the sandy terrain and weaving around the shrubs and scraggly trees until he heard the ragged breathes of the mare close by. Ryder paused for a moment, wondering if this was the right decision to follow her all the way out here. What if it was something personal, and he was intruding? Or maybe she was injured and needed help. With a deep breathe, Ryder walked toward where she was laying on the ground, making sure he appeared in front of her as not too startle her. He cleared his throat, announcing his presence as well as making sure his voice didn't crack when he spoke. "Hello, I don't mean to intrude, but I saw you in Osulas and just wanted to make sure you were okay." He said, his brows narrowing in concern. It was clear that she was anything but okay, but maybe there was something he could do to help?

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Ryder could see the awestruck look on the mare's face as she lifted her head from the ground, covered in sand where her tears marked her cheeks. His ears perked up to catch the soft stuttering that left her lips before she was finally able to speak coherently. A pang of concern and guilt flooded over him at her words. No one should hurt badly enough that something like this became normal for them. That was the reason why he had become a medicine-horse after all: to help those that were hurting. The medicine-horse side of his brain began working out different diagnosis and treatment plans before he could even think of anything else, and his blue eyes wandered quickly to the bag of herbs and other medical gear around his shoulders.

When he realized what he was doing, the hippocampus looked back to see a trail of blood trickling down her face from a wound on her head, and that was when the tears started again, running down her face like great rivers. He trotted the small distance to her side where he sat down, laying his gear out beside him for him to easily see what to use. "Really? The first to come make sure you were okay?" He asked in disbelief as he pulled out bandages from his bag. He couldn't believe that not one soul would come back sure she didn't end up hurt, but he guessed that was what it was like in the big city. Everyone had stuff to do and places to be, and they didn't have time to chase after anyone. "You've got a pretty nasty scratch on your head. I can clean it and bandage it if that's okay with you." His gaze filled with questioning, hoping that she would be alright with him bandaging her up, but he'd wait for the 'a-okay' before doing anything. The last thing he wanted was to intrude on anyone's personal space and make them uncomfortable.

Ryder nodded, offering her a friendly smile. "Ra, my name is Ryder." He answered her pleading expression, seeing her staring at him as if perhaps they'd met before. He couldn't say that he'd seen seen her before. He was pretty sure he'd remember someone with a tattoo of Alya on their leg if he had seen her before.

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((It's okay, hun! <3 Don't worry about it, and I hope the move is going smoothly~ ))

He waited patiently as she stared up at him before telling him that he could clean and dress her wound. Ryder took of gauze from his bag and carefully unscrewed his container of water. Focusing his blessing on the fluid, a small orb of it rose from the flask, and he placed it on the gauze before the medicine horse began to lightly dab at the scratch on her head.

As he worked at cleaning away the blood, Ryder's ears perked up when Ra spoke, and a sympathetic smile crept over his features. He had heard of horses who had temporary lapses where they couldn't control their emotions though he had never treated one before. His mentor had taught him various ways that he had treated horses with such ailments, but it seemed that each case was different and so was each treatment. It was disheartening to think though that horses she had probably been around her entire life ignored her in her time of need. It had been obvious that she was hurting, hurting enough to inflict wounds on herself. From what he had seen of such horses, even a simple act of kindness and letting them know that they are important and seen can be enough to help them heal. "I'm sorry. I bet that's hard on you." Ryder muttered while he dried the injury before taking out a greenish colored poultice from his satchel. "This is a mixture of aloe leaves and cactus juice. It'll help keep the wound before becoming infected, but I wanted to warn you that it might sting a little." He offered a lopsided grin, showing her the lump of plant material.

At the sound of her voice growing more steady and calm, he gave her a small grin. "There's no need to thank me, Ra. I'm sure you would have done the same for me if our situation was reversed."


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As a small, calm smile danced across her lips, Ryder took it as a sign that it was okay to apply the pulp to her wound to help further prevent any infections that may try to seek their way into the wound on her head. He rubbed mixture in carefully, taking extra care not to make the wound bleed again, and once the medicine had been placed, he began delicately wrapping the injury with bandages that he had been carrying in his bag. It wasn't a particularly nasty wound, but any cut open to the environment could be prone to festering, so he thought it was probably a good idea to be safe rather than sorry. Once her head was bandaged, Ryder double-checked his work to ensure that it would stay put but wasn't too tight before he began repacking his belongings in his satchel.

His blue eyes lifted from his stuff when she spoke, and his brows quirked in curiosity at her statement that was followed shortly after by a dry laugh. "Well, to be fair, it would be hard for you to treat your own head wound." He attempted to assure her, smiling softly as he put his bag back around his withers. "And I'm sure you're a great medicine horse, but from what I've learned in life, sometimes you just need a little help from others." Ryder said, a sad smile pulling up the corners of his lips as if he had learned that lesson personally. 

It was hard to believe that he had never seen her before considering she was a fellow medicine-horse. Normally they all shopped at the same herbal shops in search of more rare plants for patients or even simple things like cold remedies. "Can't believe we haven't crossed paths before now. Maybe we can teach each other a few medicinal tricks." Ryder chuckled softly. It felt odd talking to someone after spending so much time alone recently. Of course, he had patients that he tended to that either stayed in their own homes or slept in the room in his own home that he had turned into an infirmary, but it wasn't quite the same as talking to a stranger that you happened to meet during your travels. "I've finished with your bandages I believe. Let me know if they're too tight or something, and I'll fix it for you." He offered with a nod of his head. He stood from the ground, making the large fin on his back rise and fall as his muscles tensed and relaxed once more.

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He tried his hardest not to let his expression harden as it normally did whenever he thought of her. He didn't want to think about her, but it seemed everything he did since she left reminded him of their time together. It was true that he was starting to becoming more used to being alone. He didn't need anything aside from his work and his son, but he did feel remorse for what his son had been through with the lose of his mother. No child should have to go through that, and Ryder knew that Leif had taken the lose pretty hard. The stallion pushed away his troubling thoughts about his past, focusing instead on the present.

Ryder returned her warm smile with one of his own when she agreed that they could possibly share some tips and secrets of their trade. It was a relief to see that she was doing better since he had found her cowering in the dirt. The tears had dried on her face, and she was no longer sobbing uncontrollably. She was even smiling which was a huge improvement from minutes before. He always tried his hardest to make some sort of connection with those he tended to (though some medicine horses would object against it, saying it was unprofessional). In his experience though, it made it easier for them to want to try their hardest at getting better. Of course, there were different cases that had to be treated differently, but Ryder enjoyed being nice when he could. "That would be great. I'm always open to new techniques and practices." He muttered, looking down at Ra as she remained on the ground. "Feel up to standing? I could help you if you need me to." Ryder offered with a kind grin.

The hippocampus nodded when Ra approved of the bandages, glad that they were comfortable enough over her wound. When she stood on quivering limbs, Ryder made sure to stick close to her until he was sure that she wouldn't topple back over. He paused for the few minutes it took one of them to figure out something to say to the other. Goodness, he certainly had lost what little touch he had with socializing, but it was a relief to him when she was the one to speak. A soft chuckle escaped him as he nodded his head. "That sounds like a plan, Ra." Ryder agreed. Maybe he would be making a new friend in this mare that he had helped. Maybe with a little more help, he could help her with whatever was prevailing her, and maybe... just maybe making a friend would help him with his own problems as well.

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