Dante had told Osprey he wouldn't wander far and would take it easy until he felt better. Well, today he'd felt better. Not one hundred percent, of course, but enough to where he had decided to make a short trip tracking a herd. He couldn't hunt the darn things but he could see where they were headed for the others. Besides, no matter what Os may say, he really hated the idea of passing this on to her, and he was convinced now that it was contageous. So it was an excuse to stay away as well.
That had been a mistake. He tired quickly, slowing to a walk as he neared Neverwinter forest, and a fit suddenly overcame him. Hacking, he wretched in the grass, phlem that seemed to always be there coming up. Wheezing around his slightly obstructed throat, he shivered, muzzle hovering above the grass as he fought to bring up the blockage.
What the hell was wrong with him?
Found this lonely post, hope you don't mind,
@Dante !
Corvasa was searching for food, the usual. Suddenly, the noise of a strangled
thing caused her to stumble midair in her flying (or at least it was like a stumble). Muttering angrily, she flew down to give whatever made that noise a piece of her mind.
She frowned once she saw the wolf. Can wolves even make those noises??? She didn't know. She perched near the large wolf.
"And I thought wolves can't get sick, guess I was wrong", she said, her voice probably thick with an unknown accent to the wolf. She shook some of the snow away as she looked at the wolf curiously, as if he was an interesting science experiment (not that Corvasa knew what a science experiment was).
*slides on in here too*
She'd been just scouting and covering ground because she could. The mountain still had two leaders on it so she didn't worry.. even with the thieving coyote she'd caught on the borderlands being a memory as fresh as the healing scabs on her muzzle. Given the relative mildness of the temperatures, she'd simply needed to get out. Only for a bit. When it came time, she returned from the darkest depths of Neverwinter and prepared to head a path back towards home.
But noise distracted her from her planned heading. First an awful hacking, then the flapping of wings. She approached, arching her neck and pressing her ears forward greedily until she could see what was going on.
Ame moved from the cover of the trees not all to far from where the crow was perched above. From where she stood, she eyed the victim of the coughing spell, having not expected to find him responsible for all that noise. She had not seen him in a while, and knowing what she did -- both of Charon and his fight, plus his pack's move to the coastline, she knew that a lot had gone on in the months since their paths had last crossed.
She thought that maybe she had come in on the end of the sleek black bird saying something, but had missed hearing it herself, so peered its way curiously too, impressed that it had seemingly come to investigate as well.
"Sounds bad," she observed, keeping a naturally wary distance in case he may be badly ill or worse for her, contagious.
Little did Dante know, this spell would signal the end of the worst and a steady rise to at least a little easier times. Right now he was simply horrified at the way his own lungs seemed to be rejecting everything he threw at them, wondering how he was going to continue functioning as both packmate and Beta if he was not able to run even this far. As ice crept down his spine, the sound of wings brought his eyes up, though his head stayed low.
It was a moment before he could speak, and when he did, the word came out broken and almost sent him into another bout. "Apparently." He managed to quell it down before it got as bad as the previous, though he could feel himself shaking by the end.
Perfect. Another had joined, and it turned out to be none other than the black wolf (whose name Dante now knew, although it had since slipped his mind) who presumably led alongside Charon. Before her appearance might have brought a measure of happiness, but now, his regard for her had fallen. Not so low as to rank with her co-alpha of course. But he could never respect a wolf who accepted even co-leadership with his 'nemesis' (lol).
He forced himself to breath a moment, speaking a little softer once it had leveled out. "It'll pass," he said, though he hoped he sounded more sure than he felt. He had a long way to go to return home and had wanted to be back before darkness had fallen too long. At this rate he'd be stuck walking and the trip would be far longer than he'd anticipated.
She glanced to the crow quickly, but he had much of her attentions. It'll pass he offered and for his sake, she hoped this was true. Amekaze believed his pack to still have the medic from the Plateau, so at least that was a resource at his disposal.. should his condition warrant it. "Hope so," she replied. He was probably best off believing it to be true. His healing would go better that way, if nothing else. Amekaze decides not to remark on it for now since she's not all that close to him and her intentions aren't exactly to offend in any way.. and she does wonder of the toll it takes on him, to be coughing so harshly. It had sounded bad enough that she wouldn't be surprised.
"What is it from? Sickness? Or..?" she left it blank, for it could be a myriad of possibilities, and leaned forward curiously -- although knew he may not want to answer at all. She'd understand. It was a subject she'd not want to cover in any detail if it were her in his position. He didn't smell outright ill, though, so she stole a few small steps closer.
He took some measured breaths. Too many deep ones and they wojld catch to start all over again. "I'm not sure," he finally answered, a bit louder if still rough coming out. "If it's sickness, it isn't one I've had before."
He remained standing, not wanting to sit for fear of instigating it again. He did forcibly relax a bit though, hoping the shaking he could feel would stop. Not dying, he thought firmly, it's fine.
He wasn't fond of the current bend of the conversation, so he went with making light of it, the usual fallback. "Why are you out here? Looking for physically questionable wolves to add to the ranks?" Pause, breathe. "If so I'm afraid I'm taken."
With only vaguely secondhand knowledge on the subject of sickness, she had little to offer on the topic that would be of any use. Since he didn't know one way or another, she supposed that was at least better than a confirmation that he was sick. She'd just hold fast to her suspicions instead.
Physically questionable was one way to put it. She noticed breathing seemed like such a conscious effort for him right now. "That is just too bad then, but really, I have no need.." she shook her head with a smirk. Scouting for more wolves was terribly low on her priorities these days. They seemed to find her well enough anyway -- so much that she could afford to be choosy and turn some away when she was feeling picky. "Just scouting, making sure nothing new was happening out here." She paired that with a vague gesture. These forests were prime lands, useful for many things, so he should understand. "I do like to just come off the mountain sometimes." Even sometimes without a very compelling reason.
"Why are you out here?" she returned onto him and while it went unsaid, she thought to add and sounding like that? Needless to say, when tracking the noise of something that sounded ready to hack up a lung, he was among the last things she'd expected to find.
No need indeed. Lately he'd felt Donnelaith had no need too, though he'd kept such moping to himself. He was trying his best - that just hadn't been quite enough for his satisfaction recently. He understood the desire to wander, it had been what brought him out too.
"Fresh air," he replied, the irony of it not escaping him, and he chuckled breathlessly. "I felt better." He'd over estimated, and now he'd pay for that mistake on the return trip. It was going to be a walk that brought him home, he already knew, and likely he would not make it by nightfall. Osprey would probably assume him patrolling. At least he wouldn't have to explain his idiocy. "Too bad my body didn't seem to agree.". He wasn't especially sorry to see her, though.
He chuckled, and she smirked silently.. because it was wrong not to appreciate the irony of it all. But she nodded. "I would have hoped so," she chuffed, trying not to let it become too weighted in a direction he may not want to hear again. "Too bad indeed," she shook her head softly and agreed with a sigh. To be deceived by your own flesh like that? Awfully cruel. But afflictions(?) like these were not something she knew very well, and she could feel her empathy measured by this despite her efforts.
"Well. At least you do not have too far to go. Easy going, I would guess.." she supposed out-loud and remembered the landscapes between here and there. It was probably about the same distance back to the Spear, give or take. But she'd make far better time than him if breathing, something so instrumental in motion at all, was going to be a struggle. "Aside from, ah, that.. has coastal life suited you?" she asked almost gently. Vague answers were more than welcome too, because it was just her attempt at curious conversation.
It was an easy trip, and as far as he could tell, there was not much danger to it. He hopefully would not run into anything he could not handle. "It has. Donnelaith is thriving in a way I haven't seen in a long while," he said somewhat fondly. Not since Peregrine left, it seemed, had their ranks been so full and active. They were once again becoming the family he had hoped.
"And you? I hear tell that you have made a change of your own." He smiled, amused. "From one mountain to the next?". Obviously he knew there was more to it than that, yet he couldn't resist poking a bit of fun.
Donnelaith was still not a word she was used to hearing. It was still a bit jarring to think of him as not being of the Plateau since he had represented it for so long for her. Nevertheless, thriving spoke volumes. She nodded in thoughtful silence, and certainly hadn't missed his tone. They were doing well and it was made clear to her. But, she laughed softly with a curious cant. "Ah, really, who tells these things?" she asked with a smirk, knowing news traveled up and down the grapevines as it did, no matter how low-key about it she personally had been. She did remember mentioning a move to the young Eilidh moons back, so maybe that was somehow related.
"But true.. I cannot see myself without a mountain anymore, I suppose." On their slopes, she could thrive. She was lucky the Bay wolves had agreed to the drastic change of territory for their shared home. But, perhaps selfishly, she believed it was in their best interests. "The Sunspire was fading fast, I could not hold it up any longer.. and these new arrangements have proven worthwhile so far," she shrugged. While admitting that she could not carry the weight of the dying Spire alone came at its own cost, she was frank with him. Still, she was happy with what had come of it and truly felt reinvigorated since the move.
He didn't recall a name, but the news had been sure when the wolf had come requesting an alliance. He'd been turned away, of course, but Amekaze didn't seem to mind. Or perhaps did not know. "One of yours, I believe. He came by the plateau before we left, but I ran into him closer to the coast." Dante didn't bother elaborating; no use getting into that.
Her frank honesty surprised him, but he understood. He had left the plateau for the same reason. They would have likely been able to keep the pack going, but not with nearly the strength. "Seems we both got what we wished out of them," he said with a smile. "I'm glad."
He was breathing easier now and knew it was almost time to depart. He would wait a bit longer before starting back to be sure, however.
No one particularly came to mind right away, but she just wrote it off for now. She had her scouts and aspiring ones as well, some of which had not stayed through the long run, which was inconsequential now.
"Me too," she replied with a swaying tail. Truthfully, of all the wolves beyond her pack, he was among the scarce few she gave a damn about and legitimately felt a certain sort of warmth in knowing that life had picked up for him. Even with Charon's distaste for him to think about and the possibility that their little brawl may have somehow been one of the earliest catalysts to her changes, it was still a curious little feeling to have. So, she didn't bother to consider it at length, and only moved forward to nudge his shoulder companionably. "You have a long walk ahead of you," she chuffed and by pointing her nose for home, began to make her exit.
He might have laughed if he had known his own fight with Charon started their merger. Much as Ame might have profitted from their joining forces, Dante couldn't see why she had agreed to let him lead with her. Yet he had no right to judge or call to comment, so kept his peace and simply did not bring up the subject. As one of few amicable friends he had outside of Donnelaith, he knew not to burn more bridges than necessary.
"I do," he said, looking ruefully in the way he had come. It'd be a cold and restless night alone, but he would make it back before morning if all went well. "Perhaps I will see you around." As she went her separate way, he went his, eager to be back among familiar borders.