Phoenix Maplewood Damage Within

In a dream Esaro encountered another wolf he didn't know. He heard the words "You broke another agreement! This time it's your life that we take!" Before he could say anything in his defense the wolf lunged at him and snapped it's jaws at his throat. It was at that moment he suddenly woke up. He dashed out of the large hollow tree trunk he was sleeping in. He stopped in front. His heart was pounding in panic. He could see that it was morning and that it was just a dream but his panic was not ending.

Esaro didn't feel safe here at all. What if he was breaking another agreement he didn't know? They weren't going to let him live this time nor would phoenix forgive him. Someone is bound to just attack him again. No one would be there to help, he was on his own. He can't die yet, he needed to keep his promise. He can't give up now but he was out of chances. Even if he could only use three of his legs to fight he was going to have to give it his all.

He lowered his body in defense as his instincts began to take over. He slowly turn around in place as his rapidly scans every little point with his eyes in search for a sign of an attacker. Every little noise he heard he would immediately switch to the direction it came from. Someone was going to attack him, he had to be ready. His life was counting on this. He was breathing rapidly and couldn't even think at all. He was even shaking as his panicked hard. He can't let it end here!

Lunar padded through the woods silently, she had always had sleeping issues. She couldn't sleep very heavily as a pup for fear of someone hurting her as she lay vulnerable. Now it was the memories that haunted her, she couldn't seem to rid herself of her demons. 

It was while walking that she heard a shuffling noise before Esaro scrambled from the hollow tree trunk about twenty feet away. He seemed rather panicked which caused her face to crumple in concern. 

She moved over to him, unaware of his flight or fight response that was taking place at the moment. She was only worried for her friend. "Esaro? Are you okay?", she asked softly from behind him.

A familiar voice come from behind him, but in the state he was in he didn't recognize it. He turned around immediately and lunged fiercely towards Luna even if he wasn't able to use his right paw. Snapping his jaws right in front of her before he stopped. "No!.. hurting someone is wrong.." He said as if Esaro would busy struggling for control over himself. Fighting between what he believed is right and his own survival. His good nature had a strong will of it's own, allowing Esaro to barely avoid harming Luna but he was still unable to calm down.

Still breathing rapidly and turned away from Luna. "I've done nothing wrong this time! There is no reason to kill me!" He said as he stood in place. But what if he was actually doing some wrong right now? She was sure to attack him and kill him. He needs to defend himself. He turn back to face Luna still unable to recognize her. "I won't let you kill me." He said as he lowered himself defensively as if he was expecting an attack from Luna.

She flinched back from Esaro, heart pounding. What was wrong with him? She stared at him with a hurt look on her face as she thought they were friends, her tail low and her ears flat. Confusion took over as he spoke to himself.

"Esaro? It's me..Luna?" She watched him warily but still hopeful that he would recognize her. He was dreaming still she realized, or at the very least still reacting to his nightmare.

She was no stranger to night terrors and she moved forward hesitantly. "I'm not going to hurt you. Do you understand?" Somewhere in this panicked shell was her friend and she planned to find him.

Esaro was just watching the female, ready for anything attack. Her first words come onto deaf ears. He didn't know he was facing Luna. She stepped forward slowly, in response, he growled at her. Luna's next words appeared to have done something, The movements in his eyes slowed and his heart rate started going back down. "you're not. going to hurt me?" It was only after that moment he was able to return to his normal senses.

He blinked a few times before he finally recognized Luna. "Luna?" He started looking around, he didn't remember getting out of the tree trunk he was sleeping in and felt lost. "Where am I? What happend?" He asked as he continued to look around trying to figure out how he got here.

She sighed in relief when he calmed down. She shook her head,"You were dreaming." She purposely left out the fact that he had almost attacked her. Knowing how kind Esaro was he would feel immensely guilty. He hadn't hurt her though and as the saying went, no harm no foul.

She moved over to his side to lean against him, knowing he was probably scared and in much need of reassurance. While she wasn't big on physical contact she understood he probably needed some comfort at the moment. He was her friend and she was willing to give that to him. 

Lunar sniffed him over, recognizing the scent of blood. "You're hurt. What happened?" Her tail lashed angrily, for the wounds were that inflicted by a wolf. Someone had hurt him, and they would have the rage of one tiny she wolf to face.

He was still trying to figure out what exactly happend. Luna tells him it was a dream but for Esaro that didn't feel like just any old dream. It felt too real, like it could actually happen in the future. He found himself to be lightly shaking, he wasn't sure if he was scared or cold. Luna suddenly leaned onto him, it definitely comforted him. Without really realizing it he returned the favor by lightly rubbing his head against hers, basically cuddling her. "That dream wasn't like any other I had before." He said as he finally managed to relax his mind and body.

When she asked about his injuries he stopped rubbing his head and decided to sit down where he was right next to her. He didn't mind being this close to her at all, but it would be different if the situation wasn't like this. He didn't think about her possible reaction to the news and decided to just tell her. "I broke an agreement I didn't know about, then a wolf from the Sleeping Dragon attacked me and told me if another wolf hunts above river they will die instead." He said giving a rough summary.

Anger rose in her tiny form, making her shake vehemently. She wanted to go down there and rip everyone of those stupid Dragons apart. It wasn't like Esaro had knowingly broken their stupid agreement. There was no reason to attack. A simple warning or threat would've sufficed.

She found she didn't mind Esaro cuddling her, it felt nice actually. She hadn't physically touched anyone for a long time. She pushed the odd sensation away for now. 

"I'll go down there and kill them all," she mumbled into his shoulder. She stood and growled at the general direction Sleeping Dragon. "Ya hear that?! I'm not afraid of you!" They couldn't hear her of course, but she must have seemed more comical than fearsome. Her growls were more like squeaks and her tiny form wasn't one for fighting.

He noticed that Luna was getting angry. At first he thought she was mad at him. That would would have been a perfectly normal reaction. To his surprise she was not directing that anger at him nor blaming him. He felt a little relieved that he wasn't going to get yelled at again but Luna unsettled him with her talk of going to kill them. In no way did he ever want to kill them or even have revenge. Esaro leaned away from Luna. He looked at her with disappointment. Doesn't she know that it was a terrible thing to say?

"That's wrong Luna." He said neutrally. It may seem she was likely all talk, There is no way she could take on a whole pack. She was also small, even Esaro could see that Luna would have a size disadvantage just against one wolf. "Even if you could take them all on, none of what you would do there would be right." Then he moved in front of her just to get in her way. "Don't ever think that way, or it will be you who becomes wrong." Esaro was pretty serious about the subject. He hoped that Luna would change her idea.

With a huff she sat back down. "It wasn't meant to be taken seriously,Esaro." She had only been angry that they hurt her friend. She didn't really think she could kill anyone, she had trouble even hurting people. She could be aggressive and even vengeful, but hurting people wasn't who she was.

"I was just mad,"she explained,"you're my friend. I don't like people hurting you." She knew Esaro was right of course. If she thought that way she could very much end up twisted like her father. This thought got through to her more than any of Esaro's words. She would not be like him.

"There's no joke in saying you'll kill." He said in response. But Esaro didn't want Luna to hold any sort of grudge for the Sleeping Dragon. He could understand why she was angry, even he would get upset if someone harmed her or his other friends. But in this situation, everything was his own fault. The wolf who attacked him was in the right because of that agreement. Reek said he told everyone about it. Somehow Esaro missed it and paid the price.

He sat down again. "Look Luna, It's my fault this all happend. We should be thankful that this is all. In a way, they could have just decided to kill me, because I'm the one at fault. They only did.. what was right for them." It felt kind of strange to say this. Even if Esaro was against harming others, there was plenty of reason for him to get hurt. It did show that all this wasn't a little joke. If he was freed without any sort of struggle he wouldn't feel at all threatened and might have even thought nothing was serious.

She rolled her eyes,"I'm not actually going to kill anyone." Her tone was exasperated and annoyed. Esaro didn't get it. She wasn't joking, she was just angry at them. He didn't know her very well if he thought she was serious. 

She held no grudges against them, it was likely Reek or Saena would do the same thing. She just didn't like it. "Are you okay?" That was probably a stupid question seeing as he was injured and having what seemed to her like PTSD. But maybe she could help. Even if it was just listening to him or helping him with his wounds.

He wasn't sure if Luna was understanding how serious killing was. For him, just talking about it felt wrong. A random idea came to mind, maybe it was a way to express her anger at them. It did feel like the other members he told this to wanted to choke him to death. "Okay, If you say so." He said as he was finally dropped the subject.

Luna only seemed worried about him, or that was just all he noticed. "I'm fine. I think." He was really unsure about what happend earlier. Would it ever happen again? But that wasn't what was on his mind. So far only Luna didn't get mad at him after he told her the new. It left him with a warm happy feeling. "You're the only one who didn't get mad after I told you what happend. Thank you for that, I wasn't too sure if I could handle another angry wolf."

He sighed with relief. He decided to get closer. Obviously going in give some sort of a thank you cuddle with his head.

She rubbed her head affectionately against the crook of his neck. She was short enough to sit at full height with her head under his. After not touching anyone for a long time it felt nice to. She would never admit it but maybe it was because she had a tiny crush on Esaro. 

"I didn't know about the agreement either. It could have just as easily have been me. I wouldn't want you screeching at me if I had accidentally crossed and gotten attacked," she told him, her voice once more being muffled by his agouti fur. 

ooh a little twist :3

For Esaro just the simple act of cuddling would make him happy. He imagined it would be the same for others. So far it was correct with Luna. Although he did intend to give a little affection he didn't expect her to return just as much. He enjoyed it, it's been awhile since he had any friendly contact that there just wasn't a way for him to escape.

Luna suddenly claimed to have not known about the agreement. Did she hear it just like him? Either way Luna appeared to be the only one to understand, it really was no fun to get yelled at. "I don't think I would ever be able to yell at someone no matter what they did. A mistake is a mistake right?" He said as he continued the close contact with her. He felt very relaxed now, she really did feel like a good friend.

Never predicted this :P

He would never know how much she hated being yelled at or struck. Her childhood was based on it, know one ever had it easy being an omega not even pups. She didn't say any of this however, Spring may have some inkling of her past but she tried to keep it quiet.
 
She nodded instead,"Right." It could have easily have been Lunar who crossed the border into Sleeping Dragon and been attacked. She would have been so embarassed if all of her friends had yelled at her for her accidents. Technically they could anyways, she was an accident. Runts weren't supposed to live where she came from, another barbaric custom of theirs.

It was quiet for a moment. Esaro felt like it was time to start the day. He may have had an unpleasant awakening but that was over and done. Now he was completely ok and ready to start doing stuff today. He had already made up his mind for what he counted on doing thanks to Spring. He slowly pulled away from Luna. "I think it's time to start the day."

With his paw he wasn't really able to do anything the required lots of exercise. He lifted it to show it to Luna. "With this paw I can't really hunt anything. So instead I'm going to go look for herbs for Spring could use." Because he couldn't hunt he was a little forced to take bites from what the others members caught. He never did like having to take from the caches but until he can hunt he didn't really have the choice.

He showed no sign of leaving yet. It was more like he was waiting to see what Luna planned on doing.

She didn't have any plans of her own, the cache she had dug for herself next to her den was full. She had no lessons or such to go to and no one to meet up with. "Can I come? I've got nothing else to do." 

Perhaps she could help,she knew more about plants than Esaro did. Or at least she thought so, basing it on their answers during Spring's first lesson.

Turns out Luna didn't have any sort of plans. He wondered if she had a goal in mind or not. Currently Esaro didn't feel like he had time on his side. He really needed to become useful soon or he could expect the worst. She wanted to tag along with him but before he agreed to it he thought of an effective idea.

"How about this. since I can't really hunt, could you share what you caught? In return I could tell you if I find any strange plants today. I might not know much about the plants but maybe we could guess what they do." He purposed. He waited for an answer before making signs that he was about to leave and explore.

She nodded, she figured he would probably want to prove himself to the healer friends he had. Plus he probably hadn't eaten recently since his paw was injured. Had she been another wolf she might have thought he didn't want her to come, that he didn't want her to tag along. 

Technically speaking he didn't. But not because he was mean he had another idea that benefited them both. He was too nice to be mean to anyone it seemed. "You can have whatever I catch, I've already got food of my own hidden," she gave a small shrug. 

She gave his shoulder an affectionate rub with her head, much like a domestic cat would do, although she had never seen a cat before. She wasn't aware that others didn't do this, it was a gesture from her homeland. The wolves she had grown up with, while barbaric, were also big on physical touch. 

Whether it be physical disciplining of children or beatings for punishment, or often touching each other for comfort or to give signals they used it. It was a way of saying goodbye to her and she used it amongst those she cared about. 

With that she turned and headed off back the way she came to go find prey.

we can do another thread for a caregiver thread if you want where he brings her herbs. Up to you though

Esaro didn't want to waste too much of her time while they look around for plants. Asking her to hunt for him should give him time to find something interesting enough to share. In a way he kind of needed her to find him something to eat and if she stayed with him he might end up embarrassing himself. What he was going could be exciting if only he knew much more about plants. To make up for sending her hunt for him he made a promise to himself to find something great to share once they meet again.

"Alright, Let's see each other again later then!" Luna gave him an affectionate rub before taking off. Esaro did find it a bit strange but he didn't have any reason to complain. Even he willingly cuddled with her. He was growing rather fond of this which gave him a reason to like her. She really did make him feel better which made him question how he feels about her. She was definitely a friend to him but this cuddling each other was a little new for him, was it really saying he and her were just friends?

Esaro decided not to think too much on it. What he needed to do now was look for some interesting plants before she comes back. Off he went while putting a little bit weight on his injured paw. He remembered what Spring told him, he should keep trying to use it but nothing too extreme for it's condition.

I'll start another thread later today :)