She ran; open-mouthed, sides heaving, tasting that acrid bitterness at the back of her throat, fighting across the snow then between the trees then under, over, around, anywhere to keep the red devil off of her heels.
When she stopped it wasn't by choice. Adrenaline had spiked and worn off, dulling her senses. Luring her in to a state of exhaustion that hit her like a brick wall.
Breathe, just breathe, control your breathing,
she told herself. She knew what this was: panic. If she could not get it under control soon she would hyperventilate and likely lose consciousness; at a time like this, with winter slamming in to the Wilds, Stryx could not let herself pass out in the snow.
Her breathing came in a wheeze. She tried to take a deep breath as she paced along the borders of yet another pack - unsure of herself, addled by terror, so many scents criss-crossing in every direction —
what if she was caught here —
The world spun. Her heart shuddered in the housing of her rib cage, and she dropped.
Possible cameo.
The woman was not shocked to see the lowly beings come to blows. She followed from overhead soundlessly.
The sight of red flowed from the gray wolf as if the red one had stained them. It had been a curious thing to witness; Aniuk did not often take such interest in terrestrial beings and knew not why she followed.
As she caught upon a branch of the Neverwinter she watched the worrisome figure. They paced. They bled. Then as all things must, they collapsed and slept. Aniuk's attention turned from the bloody sight as soon as the denoument occurred.
For now she listened to the snow — always hunting for those that roamed beneath its surface. A meal was much more interesting to her now at any rate.
Vague about dates, woo!
Despite the weather, he had to patrol -- his little trip, combined with the snow had done a good job at battering the edge of things. At least there was the forest. It was a little bit of safety.
He smelled the blood first. It had gotten his attention pretty quick. So his eyes searched across the land outside, looking for shapes in the snow. He spotted a grey shape from a ways off, hurrying over, spotting blood on the snow, and some unfamiliar woman.
Hey, you ok?
Which was a dumb question, she obviously wasn't. But going over and giving her a cautious nudge of a paw was about all he could do just for starters. Okay, he knew some basics, but first he wanted to make sure he wasn't gonna get bitten if she woke up suddenly. He howled for
@Aibreann too, since she was the one who
did teach him what little he knew. But this was probably beyond his scope. But he'd look her over, and it'd be next post where he'd try to help.
He didn't notice the owl. Probably wouldn't unless it made some sort of noise, he was much more concerned with things on his own level right now.
Not long after faltering, Stryx heard something. She wasn't sure which direction it came from but it was the sound of something moving through the snow - then a tentative voice, followed by a howl that hurt her ears. The panic had awoken Stryx's adrenaline which kept her from truly passing out; but she did not immediately respond to the stranger. She tucked herself as small as she could while the strain of trying to take a breath caused a deep ache in her lungs.
Calm down, calm down, you have to calm down right now. Breathe. Stryx thought. It felt like she was with a patient and attempting to coach them; it felt like this wasn't happening to her at all, that she was watching it unfold without any control, and she hated it. Can't... breathe,
She explained while sucking in air, unable to expell it after. Her sides were swollen from all the trapped air.
Ok, she was alive. And couldn't breathe? Well, hell. Hey--hey, slow down your breathing if you can, ok? Don't panic, just be as calm as you can, right? -- I called for our healer. She'll be here soon.
He hoped. He wasn't sure his limited knowledge was going to be much use here. He could slow down bleeding, but that was out of his league.
He looked off at the distance, not that anyone was able to see very well long distance in the storm, If someone's chasing you, don't worry. I don't see anyone coming. You can tell me what happened once Aibreann checks you out. Just breathe evenly, ok?
He looked back towards the packland. Hopefully she'd be appearing from the trees momentarily. I'll do what I can, lemme look you over, ok?
Couldn't do so much when she had balled herself up.