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+--- Thread: Blacktail Deer Plateau i bring trouble, i'm sorry, don't hurt me (/showthread.php?tid=24726)
i bring trouble, i'm sorry, don't hurt me - Sorrel Marie - January 08, 2018
If Sorrel had known something was wrong, she didn't say anything. Maybe she did know, maybe she didn't, but lying there with a pressure heavier than any weight she'd felt before resting on her head, it isn't as if she could have done much anyway. The aches along her body throbbed harder with each breath, but her wheezing only grew louder when she tried to hold in the brisk air she was able to gather; though it burned the back of her throat, Sorrel knew that she wouldn't have to endure it much longer. This pain would pass just like the rest of them.
RE: i bring trouble, i'm sorry, don't hurt me - Grayday Sr. - January 09, 2018
Grayday was rather chuffed - he'd just caught his first solo kill since losing his eye. It felt good to have the hot weight of the rabbit held between his jaws after so many weeks of receiving lukewarm meals from Catori and the others. It wasn't much, but it was enough to make him believe he could get back to hunting once more with enough practice.
He stopped by the nearest dwellingplace to brag, wondering if Sorrel and Kieran would like to share it with him. When he arrived at their sleeping place, however, all thoughts of food fled his mind. Kieran was absent, and Sorrel smelled strongly of wet lungs and puppy cough.
"Oh, honey," said Grayday, dropping the rabbit and padding close enough to nuzzle the girl's cheek. "You're dog sick, girl. How'd you manage that?"
RE: i bring trouble, i'm sorry, don't hurt me - Sorrel Marie - January 09, 2018
Grayday seemed to be an all-in-one deal; the same wolf that scared the shit out of her made her feel like an infant again, as if there was nothing in the world to harm her while under his protection. Sorrel was able to relax once he approached, though that may have done more harm than good. She cried out to him when he nuzzled against her cheek, the hot swell of hurt and homesick and help me! building in her chest the same way it had with Aditya. Except Grayday was different, because no matter how comfortable she felt with him, there was something else always waiting behind.
Sorrel wanted to impress him. She wanted to feel as though he was proud of her. So, rather than lying there like she should have, Sorrel made an effort to lift her head and give a reassuring grin, only to find her head immobilized by the pressure. It was a pitiful sight to see her in such a state and she wished that he hadn't seen her at all. Sorrel felt bad for Day, felt as if in that moment, she was bringing too much bad into his home.
RE: i bring trouble, i'm sorry, don't hurt me - Grayday Sr. - January 09, 2018
Grayday, for his part, did not think much about the bad. These were his babies, and all babies got sick from time to time. Luckily for Sorrel, Grayday had not been a very healthy child, and thus, knew all sorts of tricks that his own mother had used on him. There was nothing that really stopped the sickness once it set in, aside from good eating and lots of rest, but there were plenty of things that could be done to keep comfortable during bouts of the flu.
He grabbed the discarded rabbit and tucked it against Sorrel's side before moving to lie against her other. "I'll talk to Pema and see if we can get some willow bark for that fever. It'll help you feel less achey, too," he said in a low voice, laying his head down on his paws. "There ain't much to do but ride it out, other than that. I think you and Kieran ought to move a bit closer to the rest of us until you're better, so that someone can be around if you need them."
RE: i bring trouble, i'm sorry, don't hurt me - Sorrel Marie - January 09, 2018
Sorrel breathed and wheezed in rhythm to Grayday's words. He didn't sound angry but Sorrel swore she could hear the disappointment and that was far worse. She had come into the pack and done nothing but mope and cower, now she had the audacity to come down with a cold, of all things. Sorrel hated to think that she had failed him, but it was hard to believe otherwise.
I'm sorry, she whispered, her voice a soft crack.
The physical pain was one thing, but feeling as though she were a burden, that hurt in a different way. When things were better, she would have to work until her paws bled to feel like she was making a dent in her debt to Grayday. The thought of it was enough to get her joints aching once more.
RE: i bring trouble, i'm sorry, don't hurt me - Grayday Sr. - January 09, 2018
Tags for reference.
Grayday gave a little huff at her apology. "Don't be sorry, Sorrel. Everyone gets sick," he said firmly, giving the top of her head a firm swipe of his tongue. "I was sick for a whole winter when I was younger. I just wish you weren't going through this." He fussed for a moment, wondering how much worse she'd get before she got better, but ultimately decided not to worry about it while he didn't have to. Likely, they'd all be getting sick, now. He worried most about @Sunny, @Lavender, and @Raid, who did not seem quite as fat and healthy as he would have liked."Dawn's just like that, you know," he went on, filling the silence with the low, thrumming sound of his voice. Sorrel was not a child anymore, but she was sick and vulnerable, and Grayday had always been comforted by the feeling of his father's voice rumbling in his chest. They had the same quality of voice, he knew. "Always trying to get out of being sick, or apologize for being hurt. These things happen, and there's no shame in it. We live in packs so we can take care of each other. You'd take care of Kieran if he was sick, wouldn't you?"
RE: i bring trouble, i'm sorry, don't hurt me - Sorrel Marie - January 09, 2018
Sorrel thought for a moment, silently heaving while she considered what he was saying.
Yes, she whispered; of course she would! Kieran was her blood, and some of the last of it, too. That didn't mean anyone was obligated to take care of her though.
I'll be fat and healthy, right?she whispered with a weak smile. Sorrel could see Maman a few yards away, watching her with an open embrace. How desperately did she want to run to her, have her bring her back to their home, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Thus, another pitiful whine and an attempt to move closer to Grayday than she had been. If he wasn't there, she was afraid that she might just float away!
RE: i bring trouble, i'm sorry, don't hurt me - Grayday Sr. - January 09, 2018
There - that seemed to settle her, at least a little bit. Grayday began nosing through her fur, blowing warm puffs of breath into her undercoat. Though he was certain she was feverish, his mother had always tried to keep him warm when he was sick. If her limbs stayed too cold, her body would run hotter to make up for it. The trick was keeping an even body temperature, and comfort was important to that process.
"Fat and healthy," he agreed, though he had trouble believing Sorrel would ever put on enough weight, at this point. She was far too wan and sickly for Grayday's comfort. He worried she might not make it through the winter.
He felt the girl settle into him, causing more protective feelings to surge to the forefront of Grayday's mind. He'd have to get her a skin to wear, like Lavender sometimes did. He'd have to make sure she got a little extra meat, the fresher the better. He'd have to keep an eye on that cough, he'd have to make sure the kids kept their distance. She'd certainly been a great deal of trouble, but Grayday didn't say that, of course, and he could hardly resent her for having come to them damaged.
"In the springtime, you'll be well again," he said to her, not sure at all that this was true, but knowing it would be good for her to have something to look forward to. "We'll be going on a great adventure - you and me, your brother and father. Everyone together. We'll travel by the stars at night, and sleep in the sun all day. The air will be warm and sweet-smelling. The land that we are travelling to is full of endless plains and hilly lands. You can run for miles and see nothing but green. But we'll find ourselves a little stand of trees to shelter under, and a little river to sit beside, and we'll spend all summer doing nothing but hunting and playing. You'll see."
RE: i bring trouble, i'm sorry, don't hurt me - Sorrel Marie - January 12, 2018
Sorrel's smile was genuine then. It was as if she was able to momentarily transcend from her body and leave the pain behind while she wallowed through springs with her family beside her. Just the four of them, it would be bliss! If Sorrel had known of Grayday's other children then the thought might have come to her that four was a bit of a lowball, but her mind was far from logistics.
The summertime brought bright feelings of light, warmth. It was her favorite season of them all, her favorite part being the colors of the flowers in full bloom. Like Grayday, she had her own inward doubts about her livelihood, but she prayed that if the gods willed, she might make it to see another year's.
RE: i bring trouble, i'm sorry, don't hurt me - Grayday Sr. - January 12, 2018
Grayday continued to groom the poor, sick girl, wondering when @Kieran Adrien would be back. He considered howling for Pema, but decided it would do Sorrel better to get some rest at this point, and he wasn't sure he'd be able to calm her down a second time.
Instead, he just tried to curl around her as warmly and comfortably as possbile, and tried to think of more things to say in the same plodding tones that he'd used to speak of the warmer months.
"It was in the summertime that I met your dad and Kieran," said Grayday, figuring she might not have heard about this yet. Or if she had, it had been from Kieran, and they would likely be telling things differently. "Only a few months after you disappeared. They were missing you - I never made the connection. They didn't mention you by name. I think it hurt them too badly. And they never did stop missing you or your mom, but they got a little better, over time," he explained, his voice growing a bit sad.
"Your dad and I founded this pack in a valley to the east. We lived in that territory a few months before coming here for the wintertime. Kieran turned out to be a great hunter, and your daddy - well. He's a good friend to me, still, and a great protector of our pack." He gave a tiny sigh. "I wish you could've been with us all along. But we got you back, now. I hope that counts for something."
RE: i bring trouble, i'm sorry, don't hurt me - Sorrel Marie - January 12, 2018
Sorrel listened to Grayday speak in silence. Each word her hit her one by one as if taking turns to jab her in the gut. There was something in her that denied the right to cry; her disappearance had been her fault, and besides, there was no use in crying over something that she couldn't change. It had happened, and like Grayday said, her return was all that mattered.
Kieran, she whispered, smiling again at the thought of her brother. The thought of his voice, his calm disposition, it soothed Sorrel. That, in combination with Grayday's presence, was enough to lull her into a light, albeit relieving sleep.