The "feet" of a yukkuri refers to the bottom part of the creature, the part that stays in contact with the ground for the majority of her life. Slightly thicker than the rest of her skin due to the constant use, the feet are the toughest part of the yukkuri's body, aside from her teeth. If the feet are injured, movement will become so painful that the yukkuri has very little choice but to stay in one place until it heals. Even alternate styles of movement, such as rolling around, are avoided due to the overall body movement she must commit to. Complete burning of the feet, however, will render the area completely unresponsive to mental stimulus, causing complete immobility. And the worst part is that burnt feet will never heal on its own. The sight of an unfortunate or foolish yukkuri burnt to the sidewalk, or a manhole cover in this case, crying for help in every direction she can look while completely immobile and helpless is a horrible, yet common sight. Thankfully, if a human feels kind enough to do so, there is hope.
To heal burnt feet, one must have lemonade candy, a sharp enough knife to cut yukkuri skin, orange juice, and manjuu style dough. Firstly, the yukkuri will be stuck to the surface she is burnt to, so removing her will likely tear off part of the burnt skin. If at all possible, feed the yukkuri the lemonade candy before attempting to unstick her. Once she is asleep, she won't feel the pain, dramatically reducing her chance of death by uneasiness. Be careful when unsticking the yukkuri, as you do not want to tear the poor thing apart. Once she is free, take her to a safe space and prepare the orange juice and dough. Carefully remove the yukkuri's accessory, placing it in a safe space nearby, and flip her upside down, on the top of her head, so her feet face upwards. Now take the knife, and gently cut away all of the burnt dough, gently peeling it off the paste underneath. The paste should have the consistency to hold its form with the feet removed. Next, take a basting brush, dip it in the orange juice, and gently put orange juice all over the exposed paste. Cut an appropriately sized circle of dough (big enough to overlap with the remaining healthy skin) and place it over the affected area, gently pinching together the healthy skin and the new dough. Use the basting brush to apply more orange juice to the seam between the existing and new skin. The skin should visibly fuse together into one piece before your eyes. Now, all that's left is to flip her back right side up, put her accessory back on her head, and wait for her to reawaken.
Upon reawakening, the yukkuri will often feel a slight tingle in her new feet and is likely to comment on it. This is because the new feet haven't been walked on like her old feet had, meaning they're as soft and sensitive as when she was a ko. The yukkuri will need physical therapy to get her feet back into running shape, but this process usually doesn't take more than a few weeks, as the yukkuri is stronger than when she was a ko, building up foot thickness faster because she has more mass. Oftentimes, you can place a yukkuri back into the wild directly after the surgery, in fact, most times, she will ask you to, as it's rather rare to encounter a wild yukkuri that doesn't have a family to take care of. Moving will be a bit painful for a while, but she'll be back to hunting form in no time. The chances of finding that yukkuri stuck with burnt feet again is slim, as she will remember the pain she went through, and avoid sidewalks and other hot surfaces during the summer, as well as tell her wife, children, and neighbors about her experience.
Helping a yukkuri recover from burnt feet not only helps the yukkuri population, but helps keep sidewalks clean, and helps reduce the amount of people complaining about the screams of pain. The fewer yukkuri end up on sidewalks, the less annoying they are.
The "feet" of a yukkuri refers to the bottom part of the creature, the part that stays in contact with the ground for the majority of her life. Slightly thicker than the rest of her skin due to the constant use, the feet are the toughest part of the yukkuri's body, aside from her teeth. If the feet are injured, movement will become so painful that the yukkuri has very little choice but to stay in one place until it heals. Even alternate styles of movement, such as rolling around, are avoided due to the overall body movement she must commit to. Complete burning of the feet, however, will render the area completely unresponsive to mental stimulus, causing complete immobility. And the worst part is that burnt feet will never heal on its own. The sight of an unfortunate or foolish yukkuri burnt to the sidewalk, or a manhole cover in this case, crying for help in every direction she can look while completely immobile and helpless is a horrible, yet common sight. Thankfully, if a human feels kind enough to do so, there is hope.
To heal burnt feet, one must have lemonade candy, a sharp enough knife to cut yukkuri skin, orange juice, and manjuu style dough. Firstly, the yukkuri will be stuck to the surface she is burnt to, so removing her will likely tear off part of the burnt skin. If at all possible, feed the yukkuri the lemonade candy before attempting to unstick her. Once she is asleep, she won't feel the pain, dramatically reducing her chance of death by uneasiness. Be careful when unsticking the yukkuri, as you do not want to tear the poor thing apart. Once she is free, take her to a safe space and prepare the orange juice and dough. Carefully remove the yukkuri's accessory, placing it in a safe space nearby, and flip her upside down, on the top of her head, so her feet face upwards. Now take the knife, and gently cut away all of the burnt dough, gently peeling it off the paste underneath. The paste should have the consistency to hold its form with the feet removed. Next, take a basting brush, dip it in the orange juice, and gently put orange juice all over the exposed paste. Cut an appropriately sized circle of dough (big enough to overlap with the remaining healthy skin) and place it over the affected area, gently pinching together the healthy skin and the new dough. Use the basting brush to apply more orange juice to the seam between the existing and new skin. The skin should visibly fuse together into one piece before your eyes. Now, all that's left is to flip her back right side up, put her accessory back on her head, and wait for her to reawaken.
Upon reawakening, the yukkuri will often feel a slight tingle in her new feet and is likely to comment on it. This is because the new feet haven't been walked on like her old feet had, meaning they're as soft and sensitive as when she was a ko. The yukkuri will need physical therapy to get her feet back into running shape, but this process usually doesn't take more than a few weeks, as the yukkuri is stronger than when she was a ko, building up foot thickness faster because she has more mass. Oftentimes, you can place a yukkuri back into the wild directly after the surgery, in fact, most times, she will ask you to, as it's rather rare to encounter a wild yukkuri that doesn't have a family to take care of. Moving will be a bit painful for a while, but she'll be back to hunting form in no time. The chances of finding that yukkuri stuck with burnt feet again is slim, as she will remember the pain she went through, and avoid sidewalks and other hot surfaces during the summer, as well as tell her wife, children, and neighbors about her experience.
Helping a yukkuri recover from burnt feet not only helps the yukkuri population, but helps keep sidewalks clean, and helps reduce the amount of people complaining about the screams of pain. The fewer yukkuri end up on sidewalks, the less annoying they are.