Broken Antler Fen If you let my soul out

[tr][td]She is healing.

Her physical wounds have long since hardened and scabbed; they are pink souvenirs, stark against her pale pelt. 

It is her mind that was most disconcerting, flitting like a  broken bird from branch to branch. It festered; a flesh wound prodded and picked. Her mind had begun to harden. 

Fear does not cloud her thoughts; it does not guide her steps as she wanders the forest. 

It was still there, hidden beneath her flesh. It burrows, an animal seeking shelter, visceral and angry. The fear has turned to rage. The urge to make something bleed is in the roots of her teeth, the marrow of her bones, the beat of her heart. It waits a chance to strike should any be witless enough to attack her once again. 

She escaped. She is free. 

The scent draws Liri from her thoughts. It is the rich smell of blood on the wind; not one of her pack mates but a deer. She follows the trail with a confidence she had previously lacked in her movements. 

The woeful thing she comes upon is pitiful. Liri would be doing it a favor if she kills it.

It has wandered into their territory shallowly, a bleeding dolphin in the midst of sharks. Its ankle is trapped in some divot, a warren for a small mammal recently brought out of hibernation by the warming temperatures. 

The ankle has snapped clean through; splintered bone peeks between ripped tendon and the blood spilt is the tantalizing source which drew the waif. The deer, a scrawny doe lacking in fat from the harsh winter, has buckled to its knees to avoid straining itself.

The doe eyes Liri with panic as she approaches. It does not struggle for fear of pain shooting up its leg but a wretched bleat escapes its mouth. 

The wraith pities it briefly. In an act of mercy, she rips its throat out and watches as the life leaves it with a choked gurgle.[/tr][/td]

The fresh scent of blood in the air made the old male quite interested. His nose wasn't the best anymore, but the coppery smell of blood was something that would always rouse him. It would mean food. The elder trotted through the territory to find the certain scent. The wind had been int he right direction for him.

When he arrived he first thought that it was Aeronwyn who was with the carcass, and killed the deer. Instead he found that it was Liri, the female he had taken in just before they moved. His docked tail wiggled behind him as he was quite interested in a piece of the deer himself. "You took it down on your own?," he questioned with surprise in his tone.

The voice draws her attention, she turns her head sharply to see whom it is and relaxes upon seeing it's only Burke. Liri has not seen the stub-tailed male since arriving in Sebastian's marshes nearly two months ago .

Their relationship is not familiar but the wraith does feel a measure of gratitude towards the grizzled Alpha of Arthendal. He took her in after she escaped her captors, even as injured and unstable as she was. Burke's actions spoke a great deal about his character to Liri. 

She chuffs softly in greeting before her dark eyes return to the slain deer. She nods once in affirmation. 

"Doesn't count though," the nymph gestures to the doe's ankle with a sweep of her muzzle and a small shrug. "Her leg was broken; she was stuck."

Mentor/Therapist Burke Arrives :P

Burke looked at the deer and then at the female. He squinted his eyes as the female was way too modest. She was small especially compared to this deer. "You should never say that," he commented to the female and frowned that she could be so modest she ruled herself out. The male disliked that. Wolves should be more proud of the achievements.

"If you say this doesn't count you are basically saying you don't count. Which is ridiculous," he explained to the other and then shook his big head. "You can take a compliment once in a while. I don't know what happened to you before you joined us but this timid life might not be very satisfying."

horribly sorry for the wait! Lots of OOC stuff.

[table width=85%][tr][td]It was all she could do to refrain from either rolling her eyes or baring her teeth at him. 

In the end she merely glanced at him with a calculating look.

"You don't know me," Liri reminded him. "Why should you give a shit what kind of life I lead?"[/table][/tr][/td]

Is okay! :)

Burke frowned when the other spoke to him in such way. He was only trying to be nice and help her out but it seemed that his help as a therapist was unwanted. The male shook his head with a frown. "Perhaps you should realize that someone could possibly care about you, not only as a packmate but perhaps as a friend too," he pointed out to the female that followed him.

"Plus you followed me and my pack when we were on the bring of leaving, in which I can assume that you have some trust in me. Forgive me if I thought I was allowed to help you," he pointed out with a huff.

[table width=85%][tr][td]Liri doesn't take well to criticism, especially by someone who knows so little about her.

She certainly feels some measure of emotion towards Burke but it isn't familial or even friendly. He's a stranger; a kind stranger but a stranger nonetheless.

"Is that what we are? Friends?" The wraith gives a small shake of her pale head. 

"You allowed me to come with you, and I'm grateful given the state I was in, but I don't think that's the appropriate word," she corrects him. Liri is unsure if an acquaintance would even be the word for their relationship.

She isn't something that needs fixing. 

"If you want to help me, you can help me take this back," Liri turns to the deer, finished with the conversation. She grasps its neck in her jaws and begins to tug without checking to see if Burke has stuck around or not.[/table][/tr][/td]

Burke disliked her words. He thought they were perhaps something more than that. But she made him realize that he was nothing to her. It was in a way a good thing though because Burke instantly stopped talking or trying to help the female that didn't want to be helped. He put a mere glance at the deer. He didn't feel like helping her because he got the feeling that she was using him to stupider tasks.

Burke was older, and he didn't feel like dragging a carcass around. He wanted to help with mental issues and perhaps in a more therapeutic way. The stubborn male didn't even give her a second glance as he walked off. His ego dented that someone wasn't going to take his help. Then they would get none of it.

- Burke Exit -

He is a baby at times :P

and she's not very nice so we're even lol

[table width=85%][tr][td]Liri shouldn't have been surprised when Burke walked away.

What she had say may have hurt the older male's feelings but the fae hadn't thought twice about turning down his help. Liri hadn't asked him for advice on how to live her life; she'd thought Burke was more mature than this.

The femme watched him go with a mildly shocked expression which was soon replaced with derision. With a roll of her earthen orbs and a disdainful snort, Liri went back to work tugging the deer towards the Cove.[/table][/tr][/td]