Arrow Lake I'm a broken prize

 

For @Hyacinth, continuation of this thread

When she opened her eyes, it was still dark. How long had she been unconscious? She felt cold and wet and it took her a moment to remember what had happend. She felt a sharp stabbing pain in her leg and she could smell blood. I must have hit one of the rocks when I fell, Zula thought. As she tried to stand up, the pain got worse, but she had to. There was no way she would survive the night if half of her body was submerged in the cold water. Dragging her injured leg, she took a couple of clumsy steps before collapsing. No, she thought desperately. With all the energy she had left, she tipped her muzzle to the sky and called out for help.

She hadn't been able to sleep at all that night and eventually decided to set out to explore the outer areas of the pack. Her wanderings had taken her a bit farther than intended and the call for help made her ears perk. She picked up her speed and found herself walking along a stream for a bit before she spotted a female crawling out of some water. The scent of blood made her ears go back and she ran ahead "Hello! Lets see how I can help you darling" she said not bothering to ask if she was okay, because obviously she was not. She moved in closer with a friendly wag of her tail and inspected the woman carefully, paying attention to her leg. She used her nose to poke and prod the bone lines, feeling for a fracture point carefully. "I don't feel a breakage bump. You're cut pretty bad and probably bruised your muscles pretty badly. Get away from the water and dry off your fur, lick in the wrong direction to stimulate blood flow" she instructed. "I'll be right back. My name is Hyacinth by the way" she said and then turned, dashing away.

Zula was glad that her howl hadn't attracted any wolves or creatures with bad intentions. Instead a fair colored she-wolf approached her. She seemed friendly enough. Zula opened her mouth to speak but she could only look sad and miserable and besides, the wolf who introduced herself as Hyacinth left only moments later, before Zula could say anything. She wondered where she was going, but wondering made her tired and her leg hurt and she was cold and she was scared and… Zula laid her head down again and with heavy breaths she drifted off into unconsciousness.

for time purposes say she was gone for about half an hour!

She raced toward Sunspire as quickly as she could and into her den to grab Chervil leaf, Cobwebs, and moss. On second thought she grabbed poppy seeds, a single huckleberry and some chamomile to give the stranger after the wound was taken care of. Praying she wouldn't get caught she raced toward the borders and back out again, carefully making her way down to Arrow lake and finding the injured female.


A worried whine left her maw and she set down her bundle of herbs giving the girl a sharp nip to the neck, only to rouse her from unconsciousness "Don't sleep quite yet. I promise when i'm done i'll watch over you while you rest. My pack won't mind too much I think" she said quickly. She then turned and began to gently lick the dirt and leftover algae from the water from the gash in her back leg. Then she picked apart the bundle and grabbed the chervil leaves, chewing them up and then spitting them onto the moss. Once the moss was soaked she placed the medicine covered side upon the girl's wound and grabbed the cobewebs, slowly and gingerly wrapping it around the leg to hold the moss in place. She then used her nose to push the moss into the wound with firm pressure, counting in her head to three hundred in her head before releasing. Five minutes of steady pressure should have been enough to stop the bleeding and the Chervil would do the rest plus prevent infection. 


Once done she grabbed the four poppy seeds, Huckleberry and Chamomile and brought it toward the girl's face. She nudged her gently and lay down so they were eye level "If lord willing and the creek don't rise you'll be free of infection and your leg will heal up just fine. What's your name sweetheart? How'd you end up like this?" She asked, wanting to see if the girl was lucid enough before she risked giving her the poppy seeds. If she could hold a conversation then she would be safe to take the poppy seeds, if not she'd need to simply rest up and sleep it off before taking any pain relievers.

A gentle nudge woke her up. It was the friendly she-wolf again. Zula was glad that Hyacinth had kept her promise and had returned, seemingly with some kinds of herbs she didn't recognize.

Your pack? she echoed quietly, her voice sounded raw and tired. Shadow Mountain hadn't really been friendly to the packs who lived nearby, so she made a mental note not to tell her savior that she had been part of such a bloodthirsty pack. Surely, the other would decide that she didn't deserve her help or maybe even end her while she had the chance. No, Zula wouldn't speak about Shadown Mountian - or Nikan for that matter, he probably pissed off some of her packmates and they may hunt him down if they knew he was in the area.

When Hyacinth started cleaning her wound, she let out a short whine. Zula had been keeping her leg still so the pain had become dull, but now it stung. She decided not to watch and let the medic do her work while she clenched her teeth. When Hyacinth spoke, she opened her eyes again. Zula she responded, and she sounded like a small pup. She hated that. The waterfall, it dragged me over the edge Zula answered.

Hyacinth hid the relief that washed over her when the girl answered her questions. Sympathy and a sort of motherly feeling rose up in her chest at the small and frightened sound to Zula's voice. "Sunspire. I'm really new there. It seems nice though." she informed the other of the name of her pack. She wasn't too sure how good of an idea it was to share information with a stranger but this girl didn't seem nasty or threatening, even so Hyacinth wouldn't share too much more about her new home. 

When told of Zula got injured Hyacinth gasped "Bless your heart, you are really lucky hun. Escaped with a lot of bruises and a nasty wound but you'll heal up nicely and be alright again. Usually with a fall like that you hit your head and drown or just...die." she gushed. She realized suddenly that Zula was still soaked and probably cold due to the nighttime air being chilly again. She stood up and went to stand beside her and then lay down so her body curled around as much of the grey furred woman as she could  and began to lick at the rest of her fur. "I'm not tryin' any funny business, you're soaked and cold. Can't have you getting sick. You rest up and I'll watch over you till mid day alright?" she said, fixing her with a kind smile before returning to licking the rest of the water from her fur.

I'd say one or two more posts from me maybe? A post where Hyacinth finishes drying her and guards her and then one with her leaving during the day?

 

That's fine by me

Zula just smiled a little when Hyacinth spoke of her pack. Well, the good thing was that she was new, so she couldn't know too much about Shadow Mountain. Zula kept quiet after that.

She swallowed when she realized that she could have been lying at the bottom of the lake by now. She felt exhausted and sleepy. Zula didn't have the energy to respond anymore and just mumbled something that sounded like I'm glad I'm not dead, but no one could be sure. When she felt a comforting warmth, her memories brought her back to when she was just a pup and she laid down her head. Thank you she said softly, before closing her eyes and she could feel herself slipping away. 

Cameo! Tagging for Reference

Around mid day Nikan and @Serem made there way toward the main part of the lake. He sniffed around and caught the faint trace of Zula's scent, his ears perking up and immediately he motioned for Serem to follow. Up ahead he spotted them, a strange female wrapped around Zula seemingly grooming her sleeping form. Nikan felt a low growl rise in his throat, a sudden possesiveness almost causing him to intrude but when he held back and studied the scene some more he pieced together what was going on. The smell of herbs and blood brought him to the conclusion that the stranger was healing Zula and providing her with rest and comfort. That fact alone was what made him hang back though he circled them with a wide berth to allow his scent to permiate the area. If Zula woke and smelled him hopefully she would make the healer go away.

Last post and archiving

She smiled softly at the gratitude and held still and silent as Zula fell asleep. After what seemed like an hour or so she began to smell the strong and all surrounding scent of a male. Her ears flicked and she released a low growl of warning, body tensing up but never leaving Zula's side.

*Dawn*

She had seemed to have fallen asleep but she jolted awake as a crow gave a loud caw from above. The scent she had smelled earlier was still around and just as strong, leaving Hyacinth with an uneasy feeling. The sun had just begun to rise above the mountains bringing light with it and as she looked around she caught sight of a large brown furred male with the most interesting eyes she had ever seen. She flicked an ear and tilted her head questioningly as he strode forward with a white female behind him, speaking to her. His words alarmed her and she stood up, growling "How am I supposed to leave her after you've said that?! Are you going to hurt her?" she asked trying to seem as threatening as possible but he only laughed and assurred her he meant Zula no harm. He gave a brief explanation that he was her companion and she had fallen over the waterfall, leaving him to search for her. He asked her to leave them be and after a moment's consideration she nodded and looked once more at Zula before turning and heading toward Sunspire.