Wolf RPG

Hunger brought him down from Moonspear. For as grand as the views were on the mountain, prey was scarce. Atreyu's stomach growled furiously that morning as he awoke, once again blinking as he stepped out of the small crevice he had made as a temporary den and into the sunlight. As each day passed, he knew more and more that he should probably return to Stavanger Bay. He missed the ocean, and worried for the rest of the pack. Fear kept him from tearing off across the plains and towards the oceanside, though. What would Thistle say? Or Charon?

Pushing the troublesome thoughts away, the boy limped along the sodden ground, snarling every time he misstepped and stumbled. Feeling had returned to the remainder of his leg again — much to his irritation — though it remained as foul-looking and smelling as ever. He would have to return to the Bay at some point soon, if only because Thistle was the only healer he knew. But first, food.

Game was abundant here, judging by the various scents scattered around the territory. Moose, in particular. Atreyu watched a herd graze in the distance, toying with the idea of trying his luck with one. Though, for once, intelligence won out. It would be a death wish. Their antlers almost rivalled that bear's teeth — the one who had torn off his leg. Ears flattening at the thought, the boy settled upon the soft ground, turning to his wound once again to lick at it tenderly.

The scent of prey drew him in. Closer to miry land and farther from Ouroboros Spine. A foolish venture, perhaps, given that Tonravik was bound to have her children in less than two weeks. In spite of that, Tatsuya tread on. What he did now, he did for the Spine and Tonravik's unborn whelps. That is what he had in mind. Alas, fate loved to tempt him with what he could not have. The moose here were grazing, heading towards Serpent's Stairway. Tatsuya was only one wolf. Trying to redirect them toward the Spine would end in failure...And death, as moose were not prone to fucking around. I'd rather not be trampled to death.
INDENTThe wolverine grew tired of looking upon their ample, meaty bodies. Begrudgingly, he left the herd with a grimace, fur along his nape smoothing as his temper bubbled inside him. Tatsuya circled around the herd undetected, searching for any weak or young. None caught his eye; this was a robust gathering. To redirect them would end him. Damn it. Following along his circular path, a oddly familiar scent caught his attention. Glancing in that general direction, he could see something move in between ferns and trees. It was a wolf. That much was apparent, but what was he doing here? Was he scoping out some game too?
INDENTThere was nothing he could do to these antlered bastards so he slunk over to where the wolf was sitting. Perhaps they could work together to spook the moose and –
INDENTOops. Never mind. The wolf was missing a leg. Half of one, anyway.
INDENT“How are you still alive?” The question was genuine, horror and fascination spreading across his countenance as he stared ceaselessly at the wolf's arm.

Focused on relieving the pain radiating from his stump, Atreyu didn't notice the approach of another. The stench of both infection and the marshy surroundings covered the man's scent, but his comment drew the Gamma's attention to him. He looked up slowly to the shadowy wolf, a large man swathed in brown fur and stranger, lighter markings. Fascinated, he followed the trails of ochre fur for a moment before looking to his fiery eyes, his own gaze narrowing warily.

Though, he was asking himself the same question. The amount of blood that had poured from his leg seemed like enough to flood a small lake; Atreyu wasn't sure if he even had any left. The heat and rotten smell emanating from it also probably wasn't the greatest of signs, though he felt fine enough. The worst was just after the attack. He couldn't really remember the journey to Moonspear, nor the nights afterwards.

A shrug was given in reply, and the boy turned to look back at the herd of moose, nose wiggling as he inconspicuously tried to place the stranger's scent. No smell in particular stood out from the rest — a loner? "Won't be for long if I can't hunt." he said, attempting to stay casual. He hadn't meant to sound so helpless, but with that comment something clicked in his head and Atreyu's hackles bristled.

He couldn't hunt!

Fascination and repulsion kept him from immediately observing the other wolf's quality, eyes trained on his mangled limb. There...there was nothing there. Tatsuya has never seen such an injury before. He's seen tails snapped in half, eyes gouged out...Hell, even tongues ripped from the mouth! But this...somehow this really topped the cake. A wolf could live with half a tail, no eyes, and/or no tongue, but no left arm? A wolf needed all four limbs to...to do anything. Walk, run, jump. Tatsuya could not see this wolf living longer than a week. Especially with that rotten smell emanating from the afflicted limb. He should have let whatever mauled him grant him death because Tatsuya could not see this poor canine living through this.
INDENTEars flicked at the others words, choosing to stay silent. Noticing the bristling furs along his spine, Tatsuya speculated the wolf would not be all too pleased in hearing his opinion. Time under his father's tutelage taught him many things, but father never touched on the subject of missing limbs. Even now could he recollect the grimness of Kou's voice: “手足を失う...私は申し訳ありませんが、私の子供です。ハンディキャップのための治療法はありません。唯一の痛みと死。” Tatsuya touched on the subject a few more times but Kou was noncommittal. If there was some secret art to be learned, father never shared it with him.
INDENTSadness swelled within him. To the handicapped wolf before him, the wolverine did not openly display such emotions. Whoever he was, he need not concern himself with the healer and all his failings. Wanting to tear himself away from the gloom of his childhood, he looked upon the wolf's other features. His fur was...messy. Messy and grimy. No wonder his leg is infected. Hard telling if he was any other color than brown. The wolf was thick but understandably malnourished. As for the wolf's eyes...they were a bright champagne color. They shined brighter than the rest of him, that's for damn sure.
INDENT“Can...can I take a look at it?” he sheepishly asked. From this angle he could not make out much. Only that the stub was cloaked in dry blood and...possibly bits of flesh. To Tatsuya, Atreyu was little more than a living, breathing miracle. And miracles do not last forever... “Maybe I can help?” I doubt it...This dude's gonna die no matter what I do.

Unaware of the other male's grim outlook, Atreyu was quite confident in his assumption that he would learn how to use only three legs. Stubbornly, he believed he had been through worse and had lived. This was...definitely a hindrance, though the yearling did not even think twice about the fact that this could actually kill him — through infection or because he was now incapable of hunting. No, it was just a wound. Thistle knew stuff about herbs and injuries, she could just fix him up when he eventually got back to Stavanger Bay.

He caught the stranger's vivid eyes again, glancing to him as he hesitated, asking for a closer look. A small pit of anger formed in his chest and Atreyu made a face. What was he, some sort of freak show now? Maybe I can help. Oh. The boy relaxed slightly, looking to the stump of his foreleg again before extending it forward. He grimaced as he moved it, both from the sight and the sensation. "You're a healer?" he asked after a pause. Was he like Aesop? Brawn and brains?

For a second there, the Epsilon thought he had offended the other but all signs of aggression melted away when he offered help. So trusting, he thought, watching what little arm he had left extend. A more malicious being could take advantage of such traits. Tatsuya, however, was far from malicious. Once upon a time, he had been, but not now.
INDENT“Yeah,” he offhandedly replied, more focused on the wolf's wound than talking. Moving a little bit closer to Atreyu's arm, he inspected it more closely. Tatsuya could not tell what got him, but it was likely some competitor to wolves. Cougar, maybe? I doubt a cougar could do this. They're large, but not this large. Half of Atreyu's forearm was gone, elbow and shoulder still intact. As for the actual wound itself...The radius and ulna was snapped clean in half, and all of the little muscles in the arm were...It looked like meat. Insipid meat that was put through a blender. The only good thing was that there were no exposed tendons or arteries. They were blocked by coagulated blood or were torn further up his arm. The bad thing was this guy had a large wound that invited infection, disease, and worse into his body. Tatsuya was still convinced there was nothing he could do to save him, but...he wanted to help regardless.
INDENT“I'm willing to help, if you want it,” he entreated. Tatsuya had nothing on him that could really make that sucker heal, but he had some disinfectants in his stash nearby. “I got some herbs nearby...No super powered herbs, but something more along the lines of antibacterial plants that will ensure you don't die from infection.” He hoped this guy knew what 'antibacterial' meant. “I'm Tatsuya, by the way.” If he was to be a sort of doctor, he could at least give his name. His real name, not Tonravik's alias. Kapvik would work well in other situations, but here? Here he needed to be Tatsuya.

His nonchalant reply didn't instil much confidence within Atreyu, but he offered his partially severed limb regardless for the stranger to inspect. He was large and fearsome looking, but he didn't seem dangerous — at least, at the moment. The boy wasn't the most observant of wolves and could be almost blind to other's intentions, but he couldn't really refuse the potential healer's help, not in his current state. If he could get it stop smelling so horribly, maybe then he'd have a chance to actually catch some damn prey.

He nodded at the man when he mentioned herbs, ears pricking at the tail end of his sentence. Infection shmection, it would take a lot more to bring him down!

Obviously unaware of the direness of his condition (and perhaps still affected by a lingering fever), Atreyu let out a laugh. "Darn, I was hoping you'd be able to grow it back," he said, his voice only slightly tinged with worry. He wasn't so moronic that he truly believed limbs could grow back, but it still didn't keep him from feeling disheartened. The other half of his leg was probably sitting somewhere in that stupid bear's stomach by now. Unfortunately, he had no idea what antibacterial meant, but it sounded...nerdy. His trust was now firmly in this Tatsuya's paws. "Atreyu," he said in turn before tilting his head curiously, watching the oddly-furred man study his leg.

Worry sprouted in the pack wolf's voice to which Tatsuya did nothing to soothe. Were the Healer assured of Atreyu's survival he would have been more nurturing, but he was still convinced this raunchy wolf was going to die. Tatsuya did not share in the others joke, visage grim, fiery eyes studious. Dying was not something to laugh about. Certainly for one so young.
INDENT“We need to get this...crap off of you, Atreyu,” Tatsuya said as he leaned away from his wound, allowing him to let it move back into a more comfortable position. “I do not know if you're aware of this, but you're covered in filth.” Emphasizing his distaste, Tatsuya grimaced, trying to gesture to...well, all of Atreyu. There was a miscellany of dirt, unknown liquid, and who knows what else caked on and into this wolf's coat. “And this filth is bad for your injury.” Was there a note of rebuke in his voice? Damn straight. Atreyu was evidently inexperienced on the matters of mending wounds and the like so Tatsuya was going to be his teacher. Right here, right now. Chances were Atreyu would be thanking and cursing him when Tatsuya was done.
INDENT“Don't move. I'll be right back.” Turning his back on the Bay wolf, Tatsuya took off. He sprinted to his temporary stash further in the Fens, slipping into a group of tight-knit trees. Approaching his stash, he briefly studied the cover he put over his valuables. It appeared and smelled the same as he left it so he shoved the branches and grasses out of the way with his paw to reveal his bounty. Retrieving the herbs, Tatsuya turned around and ran back towards the waiting youth. As expected he was in the same spot Tatsuya left him. Drawing close to his wounded patient, he deposited his bouquet of flashy plants onto the ground, demanding Atreyu's attention.
INDENT“There's a lake near here...Big Salmon Lake. It's kind of out of the way but it's the closest body of clean water.” He paused, cranium moving to face their destination. It was not visible from here. They were in the lowlands, after all. “I'm...assuming you can walk?” What an idiotic question. Of course he can! Tatsuya would watch him walk for a bit to judge how well he was handling three legs instead of four. Not well, I imagine. Who knows. Maybe Atreyu will astound him even more.

The other's stony expression didn't budge at his light-hearted comment, and Atreyu felt his own face fall a little as he stared back at the stranger's vivid eyes. He withdrew his stub of a leg back to his chest, holding it there awkwardly as he was reprimanded for the state of his coat. He looked down at it, brow furrowing in confusion. Granted, it was a little grubbier than usual, but it wasn't like he had been rolling in mud and carcasses. He looked back up to Tatsuya with a flicker of defiance. "I..." he went to rebut, though was interrupted as the two-toned wolf gave a command, turned and then ran deeper into the territory. Atreyu watched him go, perplexed but obeying his order — it wasn't like he could go anywhere fast anyway.

He waited, tail tip flicking impatiently as he stared in the direction the wolf had disappeared.

He reappeared quickly, a bunch of herbs tucked in his jaws. The boy eyed them suspiciously, remembering when Aesop had shown him his own collection of herbs — only they had been for a very different purpose. He didn't recognise any that Tatsuya held, however, so that was a good sign...even if plants all looked the same to him anyway. He stared at the bundle of greenery that was dropped at his feet before looking up at the male, curious as to why he seemed so eager to help him. As he gestured to this lake with a swing of his large muzzle, Atreyu followed his gaze, before giving a chuff of laughter at his assumption. "'Course," he said in a matter-of-fact way. How else did Tatsuya think he had gotten all the way out here?

Heaving himself onto all...threes, the boy steadied himself as his legs protested against any further walking. His right foreleg and shoulder seared with pain from the heavy, uncoordinated gait, but he was determined to walk as normally as possible in front of the healer. He gave him a quick glance as if to say you coming? before taking a step...and falling flat onto his face. It was going to be a long trip.

Atreyu was not in any shape to argue. He did not have any grounds to either, uneducated on infections and herbs to fend off such ailments. Tatsuya would have shut his ass down as soon as he opened his mouth so he made a hasty retreat just to avoid that conversation. It would have likely ended in Atreyu losing another limb anyway. (lol)
INDENTThe youth's self assured comment was endearing. Taking the bundle of herbs back into his mouth, he observed Atreyu compensate for his absent limb, walk-limping forward. These movement pained him. Tatsuya looked upon the younger wolf with worry in his eyes. Once his dingy sufferer turned to instigate him, the hapless handicap lost balance and fell right on his face. Ouch. Spurned into action, Tatsuya rushed to his side to help him back up. The road to living with three legs was going to be a drawn-out, perilous journey; one Atreyu had to (woefully) walk alone.
INDENTAt the moment, he had Tatsuya and all that entailed.
INDENTThe Healer did not leave his side, permitting Atreyu to brace against him as he would with his right leg. Tatsuya did not mind the added weight but it was difficult for the two of them to find a rhythm. The jostling of their bodies was unavoidable and comfortless for the both of them. Ten minutes later, they managed to find some groove that proved worthwhile. The rest of the way there, they stuck with that. What oh what have I gotten myself into...