Stone Circle inytu

Murdock was heading back toward his den that night after a long day of patrolling. He was drawing careful breaths as he walked, wheezing slightly when his lungs couldn't seem to hold the air the way they used to. It hurt sometimes to inhale at all, and all it took was one hesitant hitch of breath to send his lungs into searing spasms.

Leaning against a tree for support, Murdock began to cough. It started slowly at first, but once it started, he couldn't seem to stop. Before long, he was running out of breath, choking as he tried to stall his coughs enough to inhale. His limbs seemed to be made of feather and stone in equal parts, and after a long moment, he slipped down the tree and into blissful unconsiousness.

Nikai's back leg was healing poorly, but other than that most of the soreness from the hunt was passing. He got by well enough on three legs for now, not really in any position to contribute fully yet but at least he was able to shamble around again. The wound on his back leg seemed to keep playing up, festering with ugly pus-like wounds and rather than getting smaller, he had the feeling it was getting bigger the past few days. But none of it was bad enough to call in Keoni's help yet; it'd heal, he was sure of it, and he tried his best to keep it clean in the meantime while he was forced to let others take care of him. The only good thing about this was getting to spend a lot of time with Steph.

It just so happened that Nikai was going for a short stroll not to far off when he heard someone coughing in the distance. Ears pricked forward and frustratingly slowly Nikai inched closer and closer, finding Murdock only when he had already slipped into unconsciousness. "Murdock?" he called out as he almost reached his pack mate, but no response came. Nikai nosed Murdock's face and neck, hoping to find out if he was breathing or moving at all, and was quick to raise his nose to howl for @Keoni and @Valette. There was an urgent tone to his voice as he called; he just hoped they'd be there on time. Meanwhile, Nikai tried waking Murdock, not sure what the best option was but not wanting to do nothing either, by pawing at his face in hopes it'd wake him up again.

Valette was quick to rush to Nikai's howl. She thought that something was wrong with her son. Perhaps, one of his wounds had opened up again. Or there were some other complications. The worried mother rushed to Nikai's location. At first, she didn't even notice Murdock. She nosed over Nikai in worry. She was about to ask what was wrong when her attention was grabbed by the wheezing sound. She then noticed Murdock. Valette gasped. "What is wrong with him?," she asked in shock. She nudged Murdock to make him wake up.

Something was wrong with her leg, and she had absolutely no idea what to do with it. She'd tried the herbs she knew and a few she didn't; but while the cuts and scrapes she'd sustained had started to heal, her forelimb felt floppy and wrong. It weighed heavily on her mind, but she'd elected to ignore it, for now. There was also the matter of her head, with felt heavy and foggy, and the whole incident of her accident was hazy and blurred. 

Still, she hobbled her way to the small gathering quickly, blinking at Murdock as he lay on the ground, moving near as her mother attempted to rouse him, heart suddenly speeding up a little. There seemed to be nothing obviously wrong with him, nothing that it seemed she could treat. Wounds, scrapes, even nervousness, and panic she could do. Other things - she looked at her brother with concern painted liberally across her features, waiting for him to answer the question her mother posed.

The male came to with a quiet gasp, eyes flying open as he realized he was no longer alone. Immediately, he began to cough once more, his lungs burning with the effort of trying to supress them. He eventually resorted to holding his breath to give his itchy lungs a chance to calm down. Several long moments later, he was able to breath without breaking out into fits.

"Wha - " He wheezed and choked back on the itchy feeling. "What happened?"

He sat up and looked around, swaying dizzily as he beheld the three wolves that surrounded him. Oh no. Of all the pack members that could have found him in a situation like this, Valette was certainly the worst. His ears fell back against his head when he saw her, and he avoided meeting her eyes.

It was hard to keep his balance with his hind leg still unable to be used and pawing at Murdock's face, but he didn't know what else to do. Luckily others arrived soon. With worry painted on his face Nikai looked at Valette. Just as he was about to answer the question Keoni showed up. He looked at her and answered: "I don't know! He was just passed out like this when I found him."

When Murdock gasped Nikai quickly stopped pawing at him and breathed out with relief that he was still alive. He coughed, then seemed to calm. At Murdock's question, Nikai frowned, as he'd hoped Murdock would've been able to answer that question. "We found you like this," he shared with an apologetic look. "You don't remember what happened before you passed out?"

Valette frowned when Nikai said he found him like this. He did seem to be breathing, sort of?? Valette then jumped back when Murdock woke up. Perhaps she was just a bit tense. Valette glanced at Keoni for any clues that they might have to do. Murdock didn't look all to great but he seemed to have woken up. "Murdock are you alright?," she asked. "Do you know what happened?" Nikai basically asked the same thing but Valette couldn't help herself. She was rather clueless in the medical department.

Murdock struggled into a sitting position, head still spinning madly. He gave another wet, wheezy cough, clearing his throat of the fluid that had gathered there. It made it more difficult to breath, but at least it coated the itchy feeling that had led to his earlier fit.

"I couldn't stop coughing. Couldn't breathe. Then you lot were standin' over me," he croaked, the hair on the back of his neck rising without his permission. It made him terribly anxious to talk about what was wrong with him. He always had the strangest notion that he might be attacked for it.

Nikai frowned with worry; seeing Valette and he next to each other like this, one would almost think that they were related by blood rather than adoption. Murdock gave the answer though it wasn't all that settling. It still seemed like a pretty big risk. Nikai looked at Keoni who also looked worried still. He'd hoped that she would be able to do something about it and make everything right again but there didn't seem to be any such easy answer.

Keoni cast Nikai a look and he nodded. Then Keoni started to hobble off again and Nikai told Valette and Murdock, "She's going to get some herbs, I think. Have you been having these coughing fits more often?" Nikai was no medic, but he'd learned a thing or two from helping Keoni in these instances and he wanted to help. He might as well try to get some more information while Keoni looked for herbs that may help.

decided to pp Keoni (Thalia, if you want anything changed, lemme know!)

Valette's reaction was quite the same as Nikai's. She thought it was very strange that the other couldn't breathe anymore. It was possibly very dangerous. It would mean Murdock could drop dead in a second if he couldn't breathe anymore. What would Steph do? She would die of heartbreak. Valette swallowed.

"You are on rest duty for the next weeks Murdock," she spoke even though Keoni was probably getting herbs to help him with this breathing and couching trouble. Nikai asked the good questions though. Valette nodded, wanting to know that answer as well. She hoped that with Keoni's help and some rest the male would get over this. Valette still looked worried though. "Did you eat something different lately that might have caused this?" Valette wondered.

Murdock avoided looking at both the wolves before him. He was embarrassed to have been caught at such a time, and felt a bit guilty for having hid it for so long. He just hadn't wanted anyone to worry, and it had just be pain when the injury had first happened. He could deal with pain. What he couldn't deal with was coughing so hard he couldn't breathe and passing out in the middle of nowhere.

"It happened the same time Stephie got injured," he said, his voice barely audible as he struggled to keep a leash on the urge to cough. "I thought it was just a cracked rib, but lately, it's been getting harder and harder to breathe."

His head was beginning to spin once more. The male gave in and sank back toward the ground, letting his head loll a tiny bit. It was not a good way to present himself, but his body felt as though it was made of lead.

The situation was entirely too worrisome and Nikai wished there was anything more that he could do. No real answers came and Nikai decided he was better off helping Keoni find the right herbs. "I'm going to help Keoni," he said and, after waiting a moment in case Valette would object to that, Nikai got to his three good legs and started to move after his sister to help Keoni find and carry what she needed and tell her what Murdock had said in regards to his injuries. Hopefully she would know what to do, because Nikai sure didn't.

feel free to skip me for a bit while Nikai is off (or if you prefer to fade at some point that is cool too).

Valette wasn't a doctor. She was worried for Murdock. She nodded. "I will bring you back to your den Murdock so you can rest," Valette spoke and stood by him to support him if needed. Valette hoped that he would be alright. She wouldn't want to lose a wolf of her pack. He had been very loyal to her over the time he was staying with Easthollow. Valette nudged him. "Keoni will help you will be alright."