Klöving 🌱

Gullviva was trained her whole life, favored by her mother-- the herbalist, Porla. The little sister, Klöving, didn't get as much attention. The most attention she recieved from her mother was when she was hurt and needed to be treated. Porla would even ask her about her day while treating her. Klöving lied one time, it was an accident, sort of, she did think she was sick at first and when her mother got there, she felt better but she didn't say anything. Another time she came to her mother with a wound, it wasn't infected or even bleeding, so her mother asked her not to waste her time with silly nonsense. Klöving realized that she needed bigger excuses, she started weaving stories, and taking advantage of every situation-- like when she was playing with the other pups and fell down a hill. She was fine, but she pretended to have hit her head, said she was dizzy. Her mother looked after her all day, and not only that, but she got visitors. The other pups came to check in on her! Any time she needed attention, she knew just what to do. One time she even let herself be dragged away by the stream, her plan was to pretend it was an accident, let someone save her, and then pretend she was hurt or sick or whatnot. Maybe she could even get several days of pretend-sickness out of it. But it didn't go quite as planned, as the stream took her little body, dragged it beneath the waves, filled her mouth with water and slammed her against the sharp rocks. She was washed up on the shore, bruised and unconscious. When she woke up in her mothers den, her lungs felt like they were burning, her skin was sore and she was felt so cold. Never again, she decided not to try any crazy stunt like that anymore. But she never told the truth of how she ended up in that river.
-
"Your sister has more experience than you," Ebb, said, as if that wasn't because Porla herself had trained her all her life, "and you're too sickly, you're clumsy too. The pack needs pupsitters, not a second herbalist."
"I'm just as good as she is!" Klöving yelled at her aunt. She knew it wasn't true, but how could she learn without a teacher? Klöving didn't like Gullviva, but she waltzed up to the freshly hatched herbalist and treated her like a sister should. Gullviva was very happy to spend time with her sister, but a herbalists job is stressful and she didn't have time to spend on family anymore.
"I'm not that good at herbalism, but if it's okay I can hang out with you while you work?"
Gullviva was ecstatic.
-
"No, I quit!" Gullviva yelled at their elderly aunt and the alpha. Klövings chest hurt with guilt as she hid behind a tree nearby. Klöving had learnt as much as she could from Gullviva, she was practically as good as her now. The problem was, Klöving had started actually liking her sister, so she stopped visiting with the excuse that it wasn't fun anymore. Several full moons passed and Gullviva had no free time to spend with anyone, and Klöving was avoiding her. The loneliness drove her to quit. Klöving hadn't planned it, but it was the perfect opportunity. They offered her the job and she took it.

-

Desperate times called for desperate measures, that's what Klöving thought. Lying didn't feel good, but it came as nature to her when she needed it. When she didn't need to lie, she was as honest as any other wolf. If she needed something, she could lie to get it and it didn't matter if it was a patient, a customer, family or the alpha herself. She saw no reason to lie unless it was necessary, and the alpha seemed content with that, even if it cost her some extra treats now and then.