So, the bear dies either way? Are the salves just to get the scene, because I thought the bear couldn't die for his good ending? Where can we find Gerald then?
//spoilers !
when u examine the bear in the morning it seems dead, but after you find the hunter (go east from the cave and into the forest. it'll be a tree with two blood marks and a sign, a guide through it is somewhere else in this forum post) and get poisoned, you'll wake up with Gerald and he'll reveal that a) he used 50 gold for your poison's antidote and b) he used the second salve on the bear before he got captured.
after that scene plays out, go back to the same forest and find the bull's training site. click "not yet" to be able to go in. (if it isnt there, i think u need to go to the inn and spend 10 gold on a drink with that bull dude to trigger it?) you'll need to finish the misty moss quest first before youre able to do that
after you get two CGs with Gerald, you should be able to leave through that forest a third time and get the CG.