Welcome to Gaia! ::

Luthias regretted leaving Lucinda alone so suddenly. But his wound was rather distracting and created a fiery burning pain in his tail. He was going to get this over with quickly so he could get back to her. because her rather enjoyed her company. Her blindness was unique in the way that she could not judge him the way others did. His appearance could not frighten her, and it gave him a chance to open up.

A spike of pain ignited up and through his spine. His body quivered and he beat his wings harder despite their ache. The smell of sage and vanilla were obvious now and he flew lower and circled a bit. Through the trees he saw a glimpse of a structure, and it was a sorry excuse for a structure. Baba forbade anyone to land in her territory, so he grounded himself close by. As he strode up to the hut, he encountered a barrier.

Bones, skulls, and spikes lined her territory. They glowed eerily and something in his head told him that it was not wise to simply cross them.
Luthias began to follow them, hoping to find an entrance. He was walking quickly, and his agitation was obvious. The fire in his tail was burning with a passion, he had no Idea the bite of a water snake could be so painful.

After a while of circling, he did not find an entrance. The glowing skulls gazed at him, as if to mock him with their eerie silence. His body shook with anger.

"Baba Yaga!" he shouted in his loudest most booming voice. The forest was deathly silent. "I have had enough of your games, let me in!"

As if to respond, the strange glow around the bones dissipated, and invited him in. Luthias passed over the bones and made his first steps into Baba's territory. The air was thick with incense, and a mist of smog and smoke rolled about the area.

Baba leaped from her perch and made a loud thud when her feet hit the ground. She landed just in front of Luthias, she leaned in and cocked her head a little to the side. "Yes, this old hag does love to trade."

Her sudden closeness was enough to make Luthias uncomfortable and he took a step back.

"I suppose you need my services for that festering wound on your tail?" she took a step around to look more closely at it. "Yep that is a nasty venom, we will have to cut it off." she said nonchalantly.

Luthias felt his heart jump into his throat. "W-What?! You can't be serious, there must be another way!" He pleaded.

Baba smirked at his panic. "Oh yes, there is another way. But it will take longer to heal, and you will have to keep it very clean or else it will fester and rot, and when that happens the black rot in your blood with move to your heart and you will die." Baba had a way of making things sound morose.
She could see in his eyes that he was pondering the consequences.

Before he told her his decision she turned back to her hut to gather supplies. When she returned, she laid out a clay jug, two unlabeled bottles, a mortar and pestle, and a mixed bundle of herbs. She dropped them into the mortar and began grinding them up.
As she turned and crushed the leaves, she looked up at Luthias, "Lay that tail on this rock here." The rock was mostly flat and smooth on the top, and she watched him gingerly lay the wounded part of his tail in the middle of it.