Redhawk Caldera Kintsukuroi

The sun had risen just over the horizon, lifting with it the mists from the lands where the leaves were already begnning to become a bit dry. t would only be a matter of weeks before the golden touch of sun lingered in their colours, replacing the vibrant green of spring and summer. A sparrow flew overhead as the silvered male made his way slowly back to the borders of the pack on thin and still weak legs, though with every passing moment his body seemed to feel more and more lke itself, rid of the poison that had temporarily inhabited his system. He felt as though he'd been split open and left, cracked, chipped and broken when he'd told the faithful (but fortunately not too faithful) Sassafras to bury him alive to keep all other wolves safe from whatever poison it was he'd consumed. But time has passed and he felt now as though gold had been poured into his wounds, pulling those broken pieces back together and making something that showed its former fragments, but was more beautiful as a whole now, even with its past imperfections. 

Shrike was thinner than he'd ever been in his life, partially because of the famine and because his priority was to aid the others in the pack who needed the food more than himself, but also partially due to the illness that had taken him. He felt exhausted, but well and whole; breathing came easily to him, he no longer coughed or tasted blood on his spittle. Sure his mind was still a bit foggy from exhaustion, and he was quite lethargic, but in good spirits now that he knew he'd fulfilled the task he'd set for himself. He was not sure how Peregrine felt, given that Shrike had denied him the pleasure of defacing the murderer's corpse, but he hoped that the alpha would see past that and feel relieved that the murderer was dead and buried. Harmless.

Still, he could not be too sure. He and Sassafras had made the journey back to the border together, but fearing she might come into some harm he dawdled behind, allowing her to return to the home he knew she would feel secure returning to. He'd lost sight of her beyond the borders, and then he diverted his path to wander along the borders, half wondering if he was still welcome, but even if he wasn't, he wanted to do one more patrol and hopefully come across someone along his path that might reassure him.

She had gone on ahead of Shrike, but only to see if she couldn’t find @Peregrine or @Fox before the steely Gamma did. With no such luck, she doubled back and trotted towards him, aiming a gentle nudge to one of his bony shoulders and circling around to walk on his other side. She was still exhausted, but persevering well enough. Anyone could plainly see that she was lacking her ordinarily zippy disposition, but she was unmistakably grateful for the way things had turned out.

"You should eat something," she suggested. "I stuffed something in a cache somewhere this way, although I’m not sure if it will still be there." She nudged his other shoulder this time and lengthening her stride just slightly so that she could lead. It would be a longer walk than going for something in the interior, but it would give them time to track down at least half of the Alpha pair and let them know that Peter’s killer had been buried.

Shrike's ears turned back when he heard a wolf approaching, but to his surprise, it was the lithe Sassafras who came trotting back toward him. He hadn't doubted that she would return- in fact, he had more or less expected her to do so, considering she'd already experienced what it felt like when he tried to push her away once in that 24 hour period. He uttered a soft rumble when she approached him, and looked at her with soft eyes. She done so much for him, and he wasn't quite sure how he could thank her- though he knew already that he was not out of the clear yet. She offered to take him to a cache and he nodded. Eating something might help. 

He balked slightly when she nudged his shoulder for the second time, and while he knew it was in encouragement, he wanted nothing more than for it to last longer. She strode ahead, though, and picked up a decent pace so that she could lead him, which frustrated Shrike- he'd had every intention of sticking out one of his thin legs and stopping her in her tracks, but she'd already moved away. Not wanting to be dawdlng behind her ike a duckling, he moved to her side, though it pained him to do so, and kept his shoulder close to hers.

Vague post is vague~ Feel free to, like... anything.

It was only through being such an observant creature that Sassafras noticed her companion’s efforts to keep shoulder-to-shoulder with her, and with that she slowed her pace to accommodate him. She couldn’t imagine how exhausted he must be, both physically and mentally, and she stole a glance from the very corner of her eye, trying not to be noticed in doing so. With an anxious squeeze of her heart, she wondered how fitful his sleep might be when he would finally find an opportunity to rest. Walking into a tomb with a child’s killer and asking to be buried alive wasn’t exactly on her personal list of sleep-promoting tips. To each their own, of course.
 
On she walked though, in silence, with barely so much as a sniff to the scent-laden borders except when her animal brain could not resist. She led him through the overgrown shrubbery and grasses and weeds, then wound her way through a small copse of trees before eventually deciding the location must actually be a little further into the interior. Her destination was a lonely fallen tree with ripped up roots, but they still had distance to cover before they would reach it.

He was pleased when Sassafras slowed her pace for him, but at the same time, his pride wouldn't allow for him to simply dawdle beside her, so he kept up a reasonable walk until his breathing started getting more laboured. He began to lag, pace slowing considerably as they moved forward and Shrike did not want to admit it, but he was beginning to feel somewhat lightheaded. Sassafras changed their path to move a bit away from the borders and he followed, head lowering slightly. Darkness began to creep into his vision so he shook his head, which sent him stumbling sideways, though he did his best to make it look as though he'd tripped over a branch- he even gave the somewhat offending piece of wood a scathing look.

But that didn't last long. As soon as he lifted his head, the black came back and sent him staggering two paces to the side and then down to the ground. He did not quite pass out, but felt his blood run cold and his stomach turn. "Break." He croaked, as he lay his head down on the ground, blinking miserably to try and clear away the darkness from his vision.

Although she noticed the struggle that was becoming increasingly difficult for him to hide, the little DeMonte female pressed on even when her Gamma seemed to blame a branch for tripping him. Sassafras didn’t want to stop until they tracked down either a) their leaders, or b) the food, but she was not so incredibly insensitive as to prod him to move on when once he had finally  reached the point of collapse. She turned and lowered her head, gazing at him with tired, but soft eyes. He’s had enough, she decided privately.
 
She laid down in front of him, placing her own chin on her own paws as her brows twitched with concern. She gave a quiet whine and let silence fill the space between them for a beat or two before raising her head again in a way that could have been mistaken for decisive. "I’ll go get the food. You… stay here," she said eventually, sounding uncertain of her own directive, of the fact that she had essentially commanded her superior to do anything at all. Looking at him then, she was sure he wasn’t going anywhere, but she felt the need to press him nevertheless. She could do nothing if he protested, but she hoped he wouldn’t for his own sake.

He was slightly dissatisfied when Sassafras chose to lay in front of him, wishing that she'd chosen to lay alongside him instead so that he could mooch off the comfort of her warmth. He rested his head upon his paws, feeling disappointed in himself for not being able to move as much as he wanted, but then again, he'd thought only hours ago that he was going to die, so at least he hadn't ended up buried alongside the wolf that had murdered Peter. 

She said she'd go get food, but he wasn't sure he wanted to be left alone. All he wanted was a quick nap, to let his body relax and recover. He wasn't terribly hungry, though he knew he needed the food for energy. He grumbled quietly, picking his head up off the ground, and scrabbled with his feet to flop his body closer to hers, selfishly laying himself alongside her and leaning against the dark fur of her side. Sure, he was ashamed of the fact that he could hardly do anything at that moment, but he didn't care. He wanted to be a bit of a sook, and felt he deserved it, having fulfilled his task in finding and making sure that the hateful murderer had met her end. He huffed a sigh and placed his head upon his friend's dark paws, and closed his eyes. Sleep took him quickly, and he snored gently as he rested at the dark female's side, body slowly recovering from the poison.