The last thing Velox remembered was meandering along through the mountains, hopping across slim precipices and watching to tread where there was little to no ice. Progress was been slow, but the female had been incredibly careful. So when she woke up disoriented and in an immense amount of agony, she couldn't at first understand what had happened.
Her vision swirled, and she struggled to focus on any one thing as everything was so painfully and beautifully illuminated in such an odd way that it hurt to try and see. Bi-colored eyes closed tightly, and Velox focused instead on trying to move. She could feel that she was lying on her side, but stretching her limbs was more miserable than expected, and she began to cough and whine with the effort of overcoming her body's present tenderness. She realized there was a permeating metallic taste in her mouth—her own blood—and her eyesight had finally cleared, she could see all the cuts and small slashes along her legs and body.
Velox coughed again, swallowing bile and cringing as she struggled to move once more. She managed to roll onto her stomach, but the strength to push herself onto her paws was strangely missing. One of her hind legs felt more troublesome than the others, and for a moment she craned her aching body to lick futilely at the invisible fracture. She stopped, her eyes traveling around her, but her senses weren't oriented enough to realize that she was in a corner of Northstar Vale, a very-much claimed area.
She looked up at the peak from which she could only assume she had fallen, and was suddenly angry with herself for not being more adept. She might have called for help, but for a while the battered, silvery widow simply wanted to lie there and breathe. And the longer she lie there, the more she realized that everything, even her insides, hurt more terribly than they'd ever before.
OOC: @Dawa , @Tenzin
Perhaps an hour had slipped by since the tumble from the mountain, though none had yet been wise o the fall. Of the Vale, the recently incapacitated had arisen in the morning to reclaim the borders of the haven in earnest and remind herself that she was indeed able to do so. The spell of illness had hindered her progress in training, slowing her somewhat. But she was mindful not to let it last when she could feel the strength returning to her legs, and felt once again the cool air seep into her tired lungs. She was prepared for the labor, the struggle of breathing when days before each breath had been taxing. Though emerging from the woodlands to assume the mountain underpaw, she had not expected the tinge of blood in the air, nor the image of red-capped white upon the ground.
Her disposition was far from delicate in the face of the macabre, however even the predators of the world had moments in which their stomachs would turn. And in this moment, it was in the face of lupine blood. The red of prey was different than one’s kin. The scent was different, the color as more vivid. There was ‘life’ in the hues that fell upon the seeking and made on feel ‘complete’. This however… the blood as she observed that stained the white was… wrong. It was unnatural… unkind. It was frightening.
Wordlessly, she ran to the side of the fallen female, nose low and eyes wide searching the whole of the crumbled body for further signs of damage. Her voice was soft in dismay, singing lightly in the hopes of bringing ease to the fallen until her chords erupted with a summons for both healer and superior. She was terrified, yes, but some semblance of protocol remained. Though as she waited, seconds ticking painfully by like hours, she eased herself to the side of the female to use her broad side as a prop against her back, supplying warmth from the cold until help eventually arrived. |
The call was quick and to the point. While Dawa had a hard time rousing herself and being active, she was on her crooked paws and trying to navigate her way over with fervour; it was an emergency after all. The woman tapped at the shoulder of Zombie, who was perpetually nearby, and the girl led her part of the way towards the summons. Before Dawa reached Xi'nuata she dismissed the naturalist, and carefully, with lopsided strides, found her way to the warrior's flank.
"Xi," Dawa chuffed softly, with her nose low and body hawkish in it's poise. Zombie would return in mere moments with a few choice herbs from a cache. Quick things that could be useful for basic injuries - scrapes, mostly. Dawa could not smell blood upon the air due to the bundle in her mouth. When the herbs were deposited next to Xi'nuata, she gave another noise. A questioning sound, which hopefully would prompt discussion from the woman who summoned her. It was then that Dawa noted the foreign scent upon the air.
"What is wrong," She questioned with a clinical strength; "Xi, are you injured? Or is it the stranger." Although the woman could not see her, she could feel her, in some manner at least.
Pain lulled eventually into a fitful sleep, where she whined in her black dreams and every fidget she mustered threatened to wake her because each nerve in her body was livened like they had been set on fire. It was a wonder she could sleep at all. But maybe her brain was rocked, or perhaps the blood pooling in drips from a slash behind her exposed left flank left her feeling too woozy for consciousness; either way, Velox didn't fully rouse again until a booming howl just above her startled her body into wakefulness.
"Wha—? Ow," she croaked, wincing with another whine eliciting from her lips as she was jolted into the remembrance of her predicament. A soft moan and her rigid frame slumped before being suddenly accompanied by a large, snug frame against her bruised side. Velox's head moved slowly, her neck stiff, and she found herself peering at a rust and gold female, concern laced on her features as if she were a distant friend.
Inwardly, Velox was glad she had not been found by a larger predator or a more malicious canine, but she was still worried about her well-being. Not only because she was injured, but because she was pretty much useless at this time. How would she fend for herself in these coming weeks? Her hind leg felt broken—it wasn't—but the pain was no less insurmountable.
She opened her mouth to speak but could only wheeze slightly and choke back the threat of vomiting as her stomach churned uncomfortably with pain, distress, and fear. A shiver traveled along her spine despite the thick warmth provided by the female at her side; she might have conversed with her, but Velox simply couldn't muster the strength. But to show her appreciation, she tilted her slender muzzle with a small, bleeding scratch on it (that she wasn't aware of) and pressed it gently into the stranger's shoulder.
Out of the corner of her blue eye, she could see two other figures coming to stand nearby. Disoriented still, Velox did not understand the words right away or find within herself the capacity to respond.
The response was prompt, but it only served to ease her concern by the slightest. She acknowledged Zombie with a subtle nod and Dawa with a soft ‘woof’, trying to best to maintain a semblance of calm- an anchor of strength for the soul that apparently had none. But she was faltering. The smell of lupine blood was toxic and stranger still to her nostrils, as in her mind it was symbolic of the loss of precious life, or the process there of.
“The stranger,” she uttered softly, once more with an uncharacteristic hint of dread. She turned her muzzle toward the offered other with tongue unfurled and lapped it gently. There was a small amount of blood, but at the very least she could clean that. “Female, white, not large, but terribly injured,” she informed her lead in earnest as she looked over the female’s visible side. “She fell from the mountain,” of this she could deduce simply by the resting place of the fall and the degree of earth and rock that clung to the moistness of her pelt.
Swallowing thickly, she continued, more asking than telling. “If there is anything I can do…?” She did not know where to begin. She was no healer, but if need be, she could be a tool for one more able. |
It was now that any other wolf would curse their blindness, if they were so wrought with error. Dawa could not. She lacked such understanding. Instead the petite woman listened as the other wolf gave an account for the stranger's appearance; and upon her mention of
falling from the mountain, the healer nodded.
"She will be bruised. Is she concious?" Clinical, always. Robotic. She quipped softly to Xi'nuata and nosed about the figure, trying to find the edges of the body that lay prone before her. It
was large; not made of pure fat though. Toned and rigid with bone and flesh. Bigger than herself. Dawa would need help to move her.
Behind her, Zombie skittered by; dropping some more objects only to scramble off to another cache. Dawa listened to this as she anchored her body low, reaching and caressing with her chin or her paws to find all the pieces of the broken woman. "We must move her to somewhere safe, if possible. Her legs do not feel broken - sprained perhaps. You may need to call for more help." Although Dawa did not doubt Xi'nuata's strength, she doubted her own. It would be difficult to get this stranger to walk if she was about to crumble; and they did not have time to struggle with this if there was any internal bleeding.
"Zombie--" Dawa barked with a turn of her head - and the girl was there, a shadow and a breath beside her - "Help." The naturalist was not much bigger than the Alpha, but she could see, and her body could be put to use. It was then that Dawa slid away from the trio and began to trace her way towards one of the few empty den sites. She would go on ahead, and when the stranger was brought inside, then would be the opportune moment to tend to the wounds.
As an afterthought Dawa dipped her head and scooped up as many of the herbs as she could blindly collect, and then continued with frantic steps.
Velox tried hard to follow the conversation—as she realized it couldn't have been anything but about her—but her rattled brain was finding it increasingly difficult to maintain consciousness, let alone comprehend the words being traded between packmates. She worried, perhaps unnecessarily, that she would be killed due to her apparent uselessness, but instead of meeting tooth and claw in a swift death, she could feel the gentle caresses of a medic's touch, checking her for more unseen wounds.
Seconds, minutes, or hours passed (Velox could not be certain), but she felt pressure on either side of her body, urging her to stand—to move. A quiet whine came unbidden from her jaws, but she struggled alongside the two wolves who supported her, and the three began to make slow progress behind another wolf towards the nearest, unoccupied densite.
Her continuous stumbling and the need to get her to stand again made the trip long and arduous. She could put no weight whatsoever on her hind leg, and each time it touched the ground she felt dizzy with pain. Fortunately, the larger wolf attending her was on this side, and supported her slender weight for the most part, giving rest to the small slit within her leg bone.
When they finally arrived to safety and seclusion, Velox was deposited in a dry, restful corner, where she simply took the time to breathe and feel each ache ringing through her frame. She whined again, and again it was unwilling; a mere reflex to the maladies plaguing her. But she bit back any more pained noises, instead turning bleary, mis-matched eyes on the wolves who were aiding her. "Th.. Thank-you," she tried, her voice choked and raspy as if filled with smoke—though it was probably a miniscule amount of blood that chafed her throat in such a manner.
Xi’nuata was tense as if she were the one undergoing the medic’s inspection. She held her breath as Dawa surveyed her patient with care, minding her wounds and announcing the sprain of her leg. Rather than reply outside, she let the unknown female’s whines suggest her conscious state. The female was awake though barely by the look of it. Her lids growing heavy in intervals until a wave a pain due to shifting bid she awaken. And each time her agony was made apparent, the warrior felt her own body ache as though she were in pain herself. She could not imagine the pain that came from a fall.
Without hesitation, she aided in the rise of their patient without question. Looking to Zombie for her readiness, the pair applied pressure to either side to assist in the pale wolf’s movement. Xi’nuata remained at the side of her sprained leg, doing what she could to take both their weight to alleviate her pain. Her steps were careful, though there was an urgency in her pace to get the female to the resting place. She followed Dawa to secluded ground, keeping her eyes fixed on the crooked tail ahead rather than the blood of the other’s pelt. But the image of vibrant red against white was permanently staining. She hoped that in due time, the blemish would be washed away to reveal only the pristine clarity again.
Entering the refuge, they were quick to place the female on a dry bed of sorts, no doubt a workable station for their resident medic to tend to her patient. The warrior remained close, watching over the pale woman til Dawa came near or she was dismissed to be of use elsewhere.
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I'm going ahead and getting this thread finished up right here, so you don't have to wait any longer to play. Sorry about taking so long. This is the last post I'll make so you guys can decide if this is the thread's end, or if you want to make one more reply each.
The creature was moved, and it was with care that Xi'nuata placed her broken body amongst the shadows of seclusion which were lent to her by the trees. As soon as she was able, Dawa began to work. She motioned for Zombie to lead her to the resting place of the girl, and then with a chuff and a point of her muzzle, instructed that the naturalist in training gather more herbs; there was no way to know how damaged the individual was. Xi'nuata, perched nearby, would have to serve as the leader's eyes. "You will be alright." The healer cooed as clearly as she could, although her bedside manner was far more rigid and robotic than many doctors. She administered herbs when prompted by Xi'nuata's explanations, all the while overcome by the thick scent of blood on the air. Perhaps Dawa had been wrong to think that the girl required moving?
Regardless, she was prone now, and in a far safer location. Zombie arrived every so often with a fresh array of plants, gathered from the hillside or from the meagre caches that the winter had provided. It would take weeks for the stranger to be restored, and Dawa would not leave her side for the majority of this time frame; her diligence would determine just how broken Velox would end up in the end (and a part of Dawa, not usually so sentimental, was eager to make sure she did not end up just like her own broken vessel). When enough herbs had been spread across the wounds and the cuts and scrapes had been cleaned, the blood removed from the woman's face and body, then Xi'nuata was tentitavely dismissed. Dawa hunkered herself down near to the woman's body (although not touching it, out of fear for her own nerves) and prepared her vigil.
Wrapping up! And you were no wait at all, Java my sweet :)
Velox did not try to speak any more. Her weaknesses kept her quiet, but the pain kept her awake through most of the gentle ministrations of the wolves who had saved her. Her face was cleaned and her body salved with juices and herbs, some of which stung immensely but became tolerable after a few moments. She lie still through most of it, though once or twice she reflexively tried to lift her head and stop the abrupt pains in her leg by trying to lick it. But her efforts were always futile, or thwarted by her healer who urged her to lie as still as possible.
Soon enough, the pale female drifted off into a suffering sleep, and when she woke, everyone had gone but one. She hadn't the strength to ask yet the female's name, but she would soon come to know her as Dawa, the female leader of Northstar Vale. And for now, this would be Velox's rather
unwilling home. Her injuries would certainly keep her from her intended journey, and she knew not for how long. But perhaps in time the
un- would dissipate, especially in the presence of such generous wolves like the ones of the Vale.
She fell asleep again after Dawa quenched her thirst and a bit of her hunger, and this time she dreamed of Piebald and Brooklyn.