Mature Content Warning
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@Ira / Easthollow & anyone else who might wanna join! This takes place directly after
Thistle's murder. Evergreen is in critical condition and requires immediate medical treatment. For reference, he has multiple wounds across his right upper body, including the blinding of his right eye.
It's a strange mixture of numbness and pain. Areas he feels burn, as if they were stabbed with a flaming blade. He heaves, each breath taking more effort than necessary. The injuries to his neck deep, and he knows his minutes are limited. When he came to, the monsters who did this had long left. His body growing cold from blood loss. Evergreen can't feel his legs, but he forces himself. His forearms first; pain ripping through him from head to toe. The bearish wolf wobbles on his feet, he can't get his hind legs to cooperate with him. Sadness, rage, frustration; it tightens his chest and a pitiful gurgled noise escapes his lips.
He needs to reach her side.
Nothing else matters in those moments as he drags himself towards the lifeless body of his sister. Tears haven't stopped falling from his left eye, while his right remains a gory horror story of blood and leaking liquid. Every few steps, his vision blurs and his body tumbles. But he does not stop until he reaches her. His face buries into the thick of her bloodied roan fur. Evergreen doesn't realize the sobbed scream he makes as he falls, dropping a clump of black fur from his jaws.
He promised to protect her.
morbidly, it is hunger that had her deviate from her clear-cut path back to the Hollow. her mind is still heavy after the decisions she's made and her meeting with Siarut; perhaps she can blame that for thinking the tang of blood to be a potential meal worth investigating. but as she nears it is easy, suddenly, to tell that there is far too much of it; and the gurlging noise sends a bolt down her spine when she realizes it is not prey that lies just out of view.
the scene is confusing and gruesome, and it takes her a moment of stillness to take stock. the woman is dead, unnaturally, painfully twisted; the male is alive but who knew how much longer that would last. they are huddled together and pain is all she can sense here; that and all to familiar grief, fresh and aflame. he screams and crumples, and it is this that removes her from the situation entirely, makes everything seem distant and surely not real, and all too easy for her to do to him - Evergreen, that's his name - and h*wl once, clearly, for the Easthollow wolves she knows can not be far. their border lies somewhere behind her. "be still. you're still alive, Evergreen." she thinks he needs reminding. she did. "it's not your fault." her mind is working to slow to piece it all together, there was someone else here, but she remembers easily the body of her father; her uncle; she knows how quickly fear turns to pain turns to grief turns to blame. "not yours." she repeats, removed from the situation solely because it stopped feeling entirely real some time ago, this day. she h*wls again, and the huntress moves to stand near the man, slightly apart yet ready to do more should his packmates not arrive soon. she knows the fires of grief and knows they must burn.
The female trotted along the edges of Easthollow, a path all too familiar to the mountain-wolf. It would not take long for her to catch an agonized sound followed by howls. Curiosity had the best of her as she moved out past the border. The howl was unfamiliar but too distant for someone to be alerting their presence to talk, so what was the howl for? Picking up her pace the metallic tang of blood crossed her nose and only grew as she neared. Ira slowed herself, now feeling the fur rise along the back of her neck as she became more aware of her surroundings, more aware of the Easthollow scent mingled with unfamiliar wolves and blood.
It was then that she saw him. Evergreen collapsed with the pale female. She never did get the chance to talk to her but she knew she had arrived to the pack with Evergreen. The other however...she did not know her. Ira immediately turned her attention to the stranger, her lips curled back into a snarl. She was no fool, the silver woman had no blood on her or signs of a tussle. She must have arrived after whatever happened. Ira took a dominant stance as she paced closer to put herself between the fallen Easthollow wolves and Dawn, her large figure acting as a shield. Identify yourself.
He and
@Amaya had been going through the motions of trying to get acquainted through their long ass journey when a commotion had been heard. The woman, polite and efficiently gentle Amaya, had turned to him with the identical ‘whatwasthatohjesus’ face he currently wore. The rugged rustler followed closer to her, obliging his current mindset of protection for the women as they neared the scene.
This long ass trek had previously left him winded, but with as many times as he got stuck in some shit while Phex was busy scouting, his endurance had upped a bit more. Lotsa patrols did that too.
Seeing the mess before him, however, he didn’t want much to do with it. Blood and hurt was thick in the air, and some lady standing over a man who looked like somebody tried ripping him apart quicker than a cat. Some other fella was standing further off, looking more to help than to hurt, but whoever this lady was wasn’t having none of it.
And of course the Southwesterner didn’t want anything to do with it either.
This wasn’t their gun show.
She hadn't planned on the long journey with Morgan but she was glad for it. They had the time to get to know each other a little better which she'd been wanting to do. The trip was supposed to go smoothly but it became evident that wasn't going to happen when they both heard something up ahead. She turned to Morgan as he turned to her then both wearing the same look of confusion. Together, side by side they moved forward toward whatever scene lay ahead.
She was worried about what they might find but it wasn't something that was completely out of the ordinary for the gray woman. Many times on her own she'd heard commontions and came across things she would have preferred not to.
What she saw when they finally did enter the scene threw the thought that she'd seen everything out. One wolf, a female, was obviously dead. The way her body lay there motionless brought a lump into her throat. Another badly injured male was there curled up with the dead woman and that brought a few tears to her eyes. He looked so sad and broken. She also took note of the other two women there clearly having some kind of conversation. Amaya wasn't a part of that, her concern was the hurt man, “Should we do something?” She asked Morgan.
Please feel free to skip Evergreen if need be! He's very out of it :D;
He could do nothing.
Arriving too late to Thistle’s call, he was only greeted with the vision of her twisted, bloodied body. The murderer above, and Evergreen does not want to imagine what else he would do to his sister. Every part of him hurts; mental and physical pain combined. He does not realize the approach of a familiar figure until she was
too close. Evergreen barely lifted his head, ready to attempt mustering whatever strength he had left to protect the lifeless body of his sister. His ears flattened, and blurry eyes narrowed.
“Be still. You’re still alive, Evergreen.”
A sob of relief escaped his lips, not for his life, yet for the recognition that hits him.
Dawn. His weary and beaten body relaxed, flopping upon the ground once more. The bearish wolf heaved an uneven breath, unable to control the overwhelming sorrow swirling around him. He was not used to the fracture in his heart, certainly never expected to lose Thistle of all people and never imagined how it would feel doing so. Dawn tried to comfort him. Part of him knew it was not necessarily his fault. He cannot control others and their wicked actions, but he blamed himself for not being here. For hearing her call and not being quick enough. If he was just
a few seconds faster.
“Da-.. wn,” he whined weakly, unable to form other words as darkness came again and Evergreen found himself passing out just as the stone wall of Ira came into view. In the back of his mind he heard Greyback’s words loud and clear;
“You must not hurt her. Promise me you won’t.”
Maybe he can’t live up to that promise after all.
there comes a stone-coloured woman who thrusts herself between Dawn and Evergreen, lips curled and words accusing. she doesn't shift, merely answers the question easily. "dawn. a friend of Easthollow." allies, once, but even after Morningside had fallen she'll remain bonded to the pack in which she was born. she thinks Evergreen says her name, faint and muffled, and then he slumps over. perhaps it's a blessing.
"save your fangs for whoever did this." she adds, recognizing dimly the scent of Valette on this woman's pelt. she's not seen her since before the fire - she realizes this with a dull start. she ought to have gone to Easthollow earlier. Evergreen's stillness worries her; there is too much blood here to be the dead girl's alone. she's about to offer her help in bring the pair back to Easthollows borders when a soft voice, a prickle along her spine, alerts her to the two who stand a ways off. she spins and catches them in her gaze, stiffening. they lack Easthollow's pack scent, and she echoes the woman's earlier sentiment - "who are you?" she's stiff, but aggression is absent from her stance, which shifts into slight dominance as she tried to make sense of all their places here.
The female was quick to answer, something that pleased Ira as she let her jowls fall back into place although her stern gaze would not falter. The name Dawn did not ring a bell, but she had not appeared aggressive upon her arrival and if she had to guess, she was the one that called her attention. If she was here to help, Ira certainly would not turn her away. Not with the state of the two collapsed to her side.
The silver female turned away now questioning a presence behind her. The mountain-wolf would shoot a quick glance at the two wolves in the distance before turning her attention now fully to her fallen packmates. Whoever the other two were, they were far enough away that she was not worried about being attacked in the moment. She would have time to react if they did. If Ira had to guess, they too were alerted by the howl and investigated further. Passerbys or lone wolves who knew, she did not care. This was not her grounds to question who traveled through them.
Upon closer inspection, it was clear that Thistle was long gone. She never spoke to the female and now she never would, all she knew was what Evergreen had told her about his sister. From the looks of things, Evergreen would be quick to follow if they did not act now. If they meant harm they would have acted by now. Do you know anything about treating wounds?
Ira now turned her attention back to the other two along the tree line and raised her voice. You as well, if you can heal this man, I request you to do so now. He requires urgent care or he will die where he lays. I can seek out anything you might need to aid him.
The roan wolf would keep her rising panic suppressed, it would only hold her back now. She refused to break, not in front of these strangers. Her voice carried urgency, but more so that of an authoritative air. She could only pray that the Gods were with her now to bless Evergreen with a healer. It was the last thought on the Easthollow wolf's mind, but the scent of the wolf responsible for the injuries before her was slowly being embedded in her brain. As soon as Evergreen was stable she would search for the source. Ira would make sure they regretted messing with her pack.
Damn, these women had more sense than him in a duel. Men was so used to pointless brawls just over lookin at somebody funny. The steel and bone hulk was shook as both women acted fast, and before he could even think to respond to Amaya with a ‘hell nah, let’s ride, fuck that,’ his champagnes landed on the duo heaps at Ira’s boots. “We got a good 4 healers back at Shadewood. They’d fix him right up should y’all have him make that trip. I only got immediate patchwork trainin’.”
Turning to Amaya, the only thing he could think of to say-
“Shit.”
Amaya wasn't really worried about the two women that were standing over the hurt man. She felt it would be stupid for them to start a fight with the man in such bad shape. The one even stated as much when she spoke of the medical attention that he needed. She didn't get and answer to Morgan as to what they were to do until he spoke to the women. He explained about their healers in the keep and offered to take the man there for treatment. She remained quiet feeling Morgan would know better what to do in the situation.
When he turned to her though seeming a little stressed she offered a hopeful smile. “You might want to put some of that patchwork training to use so he can make any journey they choose to have him make.” It was a little blunt but she felt needed
icelandic healer to the rescue!
It was the scents that brought her, that and the rather loud group of canines that seemed to surround the gory scene. The moment she smelled the sweet metallic smell of blood she doubled back to the place she had been storing her dried and fresh herbal remedies, someone would need them more than her at this moment. A large leaf was curled carefully in her teeth as she approached the group, her golden eyes not wanting to make sense of the scene before her.
The earth was stained with bright flashes of blood, it was enough to see that at least one life was taken today. In a very gruesome way, it was murderous. She had seen this once before from someone shad thought to call her friend, until... until that night. She internally shook her head as she gave a quick muffled yip at the group of wolves that seemed to be trying to figure out how to treat the one living canine at their paws.
To not agitate anyone, her ears fell to her skull, her head lowered, and her tail tucked. The perfect show of submission and innocence, slowly she lowered her skull and spoke. Addressing the question at hand, this man needed more than patchwork done to him and she would lend her aid.
"
Allir, vinsamlegast.." She spoke her in her native tongue first before correcting herself. "
Ah.. pardon me.. I could not help but overhear but.. might I offer my aid, I know a lot more than patchwork healing." She never lifted her gaze from the man that needed her help, she was too worried to look at the others. She was not worried if she had offended the man that could only patchwork heal, she did not care about anything but the life that was being held by a thin string.
skipping Dawn with permission! She's currently stuck in an airport
The roan female was not a fan of the idea of moving Evergreen in his current state. Who knew where this other pack was, even with four healers it did not seem like a trip her packmate would survive. Ira was about to ask for the stranger to at least do what he could, but another wolf showed up with what looked like some herbs already on hand. A wave of relief flooded her as they introduced themselves as a trained medic. With a small nod of her head, Ira took a step back to give the new woman some room. Please. If you can save him I'll do what I can to make it worth your time.
Suddenly somebody appeared to join the party too- an exit ticket!
But he’d already stuck his paw in his mouth by throwing himself out there; hell if he didn’t help, he’d be makin the whole family look bad. He couldn’t imagine already gettin a chat by Cry for leaving a wolf for dead.
“Guess I should,” he confirmed to Amaya. He liked her- a nice one, just decisive without the brash and doin-too-much attitude folk like that had. Guess they woulda made quite a pair, should he be gunnin for Watcher and needin a second in command. Taking a jog forward, he looked to the one being Sindri, his rough baritones vroomin our to her. “Cmon then, les’ get a move on- whatcha need, gurl, and I’ll get it fer ya.“
she merely shook her head when asked about healing - silently, she added it to the list of things she really ought to do. in Morningside, there had been no call for her to learn. she was leader and ambassador, and Pema and a few others provided all the medical knowledge for the pack. in a way now she was alone, and made a silent promise to do what she could to learn something of healing in the future. she hated her uselessness, now. "I will help as I can - tell me what you'd have me do." she offered this to both Ira and the newcomer, knowing herbs to be hard to find in the winter, and a wolf the size of Evergreen hard to move - and they could not simply leave him lying here.
Amaya knew just a little healing for minor things that happened while traveling. What was wrong with the man before them left her at a complete loss of what to do. She was thankful that Morgan was there since he seemed to have a better sense of what to do. Though she had to sort of tell him but right after someone else appeared.
It was another wolf, a woman who claimed to know more about healing than Morgan. Her gaze turned to her companion only briefly before looking between each of the other wolves that stood over the man. “Whatever we're going to do we should probably hurry about it.” She stated considering the man didn't look like he would be much longer for this world.
The gray girl doubted very much that she would be of any use besides stating the obvious she supposed.