The devil has my ear today

He led her towards the water, and then as she sank in to the refreshing wetness of the bank, began to tend to the wound. A low rumble overtook her throat as soon as he started, but it wasn't malevolent; it wasn't even truly directed at Iqniq, but at the sensation of having another set of teeth so close to her throat. An instinctual reaction. After a few minutes Salamander acclimatized, and the warning sound died away.

Iqniq then explained the storm, the pack's desire to find every lost soul, and the hunt for her. It pained her more to think of them without a home; of wasting precious time and resources trying to hunt her down, and now this. More resources, more time, just to tend to a wolf who couldn't even fight against a single assailant. There had been numerous Blackfeather wolves, but one of them was injured and the other used their tongue to lash out, not their teeth; in effect, Salamander only had one enemy that day. To fail the way she had, to receive such a grievous wound, tore more at her pride than at her flesh.

The leader's probing of the wound stung her, sharply, and Salamander was roused from her defeatist thoughts; her teeth bared in a brief flash, but then the expression abated.

"Will you be okay here if I go to look for something to help with that?" Iqniq inquired, probably to distance himself from her agitated and eager teeth (but knowing her luck, any rage-filled rebuke would only miss its mark). "I'll try not to be gone for long."

She gave a slow nod, but said nothing. The wound was not flowing as profusely as before. If he was indeed fast on his feet, she saw no reason to worry.