Otatso Wetlands the sweetness will not be concerned with me
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Screaming had long faded to silence, stillness among the brackish waters of the wetlands. Somewhere, nestled in the mud, there was something small— something living, if only barely. The water and mud around the figure was stained deep red, a color coating the furry form itself, coagulating in some areas to form patches of scarlet on the body.
The rise and fall of the tiny chest was faint— so faint, it could easily be missed. He was dying. Or, he would be soon. It hardly mattered at this point. He drifted in and out of consciousness, barely grasping the fragile threads still holding him to life. There was no pain— no, he only felt cold. So, so cold.
Winterbourne's voice is low and raspy due to a throat injury during his childhood, and it can sometimes be difficult to understand him.
i want more berries, and that warm summer feeling
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did either of these children ever listen, honestly?  guess who else was outside of the borders and, conveniently, also in the wetlands.

she still loved her mama, of course, and her dawn and her adi.  but for a growing girl they just simply were not enough to keep her.  she always came back for them but during the days, it was unavoidable at this point unless she got caught.

the scent of blood — and a lot of it — piques her curiosity.  to her this means food but when she stumbles upon the mangled blot of silver where there shouldn't be —

oh no oh no oh no oh no

when daddy died, there had been no blood, only the smell of fever.  but she could tell that river was going, the same way that the bunnies did when she found them.  desperately, fearfully, she did not check for a pulse or attempt to speak to him.  she just began dragging him the best she could back towards morningside.

Didn't have a dime but I always had a vision
Always had high, high hopes
Morningsong
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damn kids. he really ought to worry less about them. but here he was again, following river's and kitten's trail out of the territory, past the herbalists' forest and into the wetlands. irritation prickled at him, and a furious scowl painted his muzzle as he stalked on, mulling what to say. he knew dawn and easy had been the same way, but these two seemed to have the knack for getting themselves into trouble, more trouble than what was necessary.

what was he supposed to do? yelling at them obviously didn't work. being their friend didn't work. being a surrogate father didn't work, either. there was an apparent lack of respect that only--

the smell of blood hit his nostrils like a slap across the face, and he reeled, a growl bubbling in his throat. fear gripping his body tight, he followed the scent, coming across the duo a few minutes later. kitten, and in her grasp. . .

"no," adi whispered hoarsely, dropping to a crouch beside river. no, no, no. he pressed his ear against the slender throat; there was a pulse there, but faint, and the barest rise and fall of his side to signify breathing. but he was bleeding, and badly, and not very conscious at all.

aditya glanced up at kitten, shaking his head. "don't move him," he said, remembering how pema had treated dawn, when she'd gotten a stick caught in her thigh. much less life-threatening, than this, but there had been bleeding involved. "you know moss? the green, soft stuff that grows around trees? grab a lot of that--dry. bring it back here, start applying it to his wounds."

he tipped his muzzle back, howling for @Sebastian. his voice was urgent--they needed a medic, now.
The Gentleman
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Sebastian heard the howl faintly but it sounded worrisome. Instantly the male rushed to his feet and started running. Yes, Running. He would try and get there as fast as possible. He howled back to Adi that he was on his way. The male tried to run, his limp obvious. It didn't cause him as much pain as he thought it would cause him which was a big plus for him. Sebastian made his way out of the territory.

He howled again to check if he was going in the right direction. Then he moved into a trot as it took him less energy than the galop and it was about the same pace. Sebastian located them quickly and instantly rushed to the scene. "Do you know what happened?"

As Seb is not so fast feel free to already have the moss on River. I just didn't want to pp you guys! :D
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#5
feel free to skip me from here! i'll probably shove another post or two in when it feels right tho haha
his wounds are: a rlly nasty neck wound, lots of bites along his scruff and spine, anddd he's missing his tail now!
His sister's touch roused him fully, and the first thing he registered was how much it hurt to be dragged. A low wail escaped him, eyes cracking open and filling with tears as he fixed his gaze on Kitten. He made no move to stop her, though.
It was Aditya's arrival that sparked his earlier fear back to life, a response he found himself unable to control. He flinched away and shrieked briefly, the sound cutting off abruptly and turning to a muted, agonized whine; his throat bled anew, and he went limp again, sides heaving. The next adult to touch him would be met with a snarl and a single snap of his jaws— after that, they would find no more protest from the boy.
Winterbourne's voice is low and raspy due to a throat injury during his childhood, and it can sometimes be difficult to understand him.
i want more berries, and that warm summer feeling
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#6

she dropped river's scruff very suddenly when aditya rounds upon her.  some kind of emergency resposne registers in her and instead of running away like she might have done, she goes to gather the moss.  

when she comes back aditya takes it from her and applies it and another adult arrives — one she has smelled but otherwise not met.  she was useless, quivering in silence.

Didn't have a dime but I always had a vision
Always had high, high hopes
Morningsong
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kitten was quick on the draw--that was good. it took no further prompting from him for the girl to rush off, and she returned very quickly with moss in her jaws. with a muffled, hasty expression of gratitude, his eyes warm, aditya grabbed the green clumps from her and began to press them against river's wounds, gentle but firm. the worst of it was a jagged gash along his neck, bleeding quite profusely.

river's screams ripped through him like fangs, and he winced, falling back a little. who had hurt the boy, so? it was almost too much to bear, seeing him in this state. blinking horrified tears from his eyes, adi continued to place down moss, trying to keep out of range of river's teeth. "it's all right, mithra, it's all right," he murmured, his voice low, soothing.

adi wheeled at sebastian's arrival, feeling a sense of relief amidst the panic to see the healer there. "no," he responded, shaking his head. shivers ran through him, small and fine, raising each and every hair on his pelt. "he was attacked, by the looks of it--but by whom, i don't know. i don't recognize any scents on his pelt, or nearby." he looked to kitten, hoping for answers.
The Gentleman
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Sebastian assesses the scene as she came closer. They weren't sure what attacked River. No matter. Sebastian instantly saw that the wound on his neck was bleeding profusely. Sebastian stepped closer and held the moss against his neck. This wound was getting out of hand. "Aditya, hold this moss against his neck," he urged. Sebastian then rushed off. He had seen an Oak tree on the way here. He plowed through the wetlands and grabbed as much as he could around him once the swamp made way to the forest.

As he returned with the oak leaves in his mouth he also grabbed some goosegrass and other long-leaved plants. He returned and instantly started to place the oak leaves and goosegrass over the wounds on the child's neck so the bleeding would stop. He noticed the pup lost his tail as well. It seemed a clean bite, it was just going to hurt. He knew from experience. "Lick the wounds clean on his back, Kitten," he instructed as he saw the other shivering pup. "Aditya, I need Marigold. Do you know what it looks like?," Sebastian asked. His voice sounded surprisingly calm. Otherwise, if Aditya didn't know, he would have to hold the leaves and grass against the neck wound. It was a delicate procedure. Sebastian was doing this with his paw but he couldn't press too hard otherwise the child couldn't breathe.
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adi took the moss offered, replacing the already sodden stuff with something fresh. so much blood still bloomed, darkening the bright green into an ugly, murky rusty brown. the smell of injury and panic was heavy in the air--aditya tried desperately to keep calm, even as his heart pounded hard in his throat.

at sebastian's question, he shook his head, looking miserable as he realized he'd probably just pick up the wrong plant, anyway. "i'll keep trying to stop the bleeding," he said, an audible quaver in his voice. he just kept thinking that if he had watched river more carefully, drilled the fear of god into him. . .this wouldn't have happened. he would be home and safe.

instead, the trio stood over the pup, a macabre scene. adi watched the rise and fall of the springy ribs, hoping beyond measure that river did not go still and stiff.
The Gentleman
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Sebastian nodded. He turned on his heels quickly so he could find some marigold to battle the infection of the boy. Sebastian knew that he couldn't give up on such a young life. He deserved to live. The grey male instantly moved his nose down and tried to find some marigold. However, these weren't plains and he wasn't sure if they would grow in a swamp. He tried to focus and not think about the fact that the boy could die. Then he noticed goosegrass and quickly picked that. He knew it helped with bleeding to stop. Perhaps he should go with that as he couldn't see marigold right this second. He picked as much as he could and then rushed back.

He placed the collected goosegrass on the ground and started to chew it into a paste. He would later explain to Aditya that this was not marigold but that he went with something else in the moment. As he was done chewing it into a paste of goosegrass and saliva the male stepped closer. It was clear that Sebastian needed to see the wound. He started to apply the paste to each of the wounds. He hoped it would work. He gently pressed the paste against all the wounds for the second time and then sat back. "This should do it for now," he spoke. "Now we need to move him back to the territory."

With some difficulty, they managed to bring the child back to Morningside Territory. At least the boy would be safe from further harm, however, it was still unknown if his wounds were going to heal.

- end -

Edit: Wrote ending with permission from other participants!