Sheepeater Cliff What if I fall? Oh, but my darling, what if you fly?

Set after this thread.
Set at base of cliff, between Sheepeater Cliff and Whitefish River.

It had been three days since she had awoken in the thicket after the assault that had befallen the girl. Padma was in a bad way, she knew if she didn’t find help soon she wasn’t going to make it. Ever time she moved her head her neck would bleed, and she still couldn’t hear out of her left ear. Not that that was a surprise considering the man had ripped it off. She wasn’t sure if she would ever regain hearing in that ear again.

The girl was a constant bundle of fear and tears. With her injuries surrounding her neck and the pain the wracked her body with every step Padma hadn’t made much progress returning to the beautiful sea and her dear friend @Strand. The young girl was thoroughly broken, and she doubted she would ever be the same again.

Strand had gone looking for Padma a week ago, but it had taken her this long to find her. Partly because she was terrible at tracking and partly because, despite her worry over her friend, she loathed the thought of leaving her island behind. What if she returned and that pack that had been there before had returned? She didn’t want to think about such things. It just depressed her. Besides, as big of an asshole as she was, she still had a heart somewhere deep down. Padma had been her friend almost from the beginning and it wasn’t like the younger girl to just wander off without saying anything, especially not for so long.

It was with great trepidation and horror that Strand ran up to the shape lying on the ground. She immediately noticed the missing ear. The smell of blood was strong in the air. Strand whimpered and attempted to nudge her friend. “Padma,” she said, her voice a terrified moan. Her throat was constricted with emotion. “You’ll… you’ll be okay. I…” She would what? She didn’t know the first thing about healing wounds. What had… what had that male helped her with? He had… pressed something into her shoulder wound to keep it from bleeding. She looked around frantically and began to tear grass up with her teeth. “I can… stop the bleeding.” Maybe.

Her friend appeared, and Padma thought she was dreaming. “Strand?” The girl called out, hissing at the nudge as it jarred the wounds around her neck. “What are you —” If her head hadn’t hurt so much Pad would have shook her head confused. “What — doing — here?” The words came stunted, her throat swollen and damaged.

She had only stopped for a few moments to take a rest, or had it been a few hours, she couldn’t remember. The last three days had been a blur, full of nightmares, teeth and blood. Lots and lots of blood. Padma’s amber eye traced the other girl as she pulled up the grass. Fear erupted in the girl, what did she mean stop the bleeding, she wasn’t going to press that against her injuries. Right?! With no way to avoid and no strength to protest she was again at the mercy of another.

Padma’s voice was not normal and she seemed to be having trouble speaking. “Don’t talk,” Strand said, trying to sound gentle, but it came out as more of a command. She wasn’t doing very well stress-wise and didn’t need any distractions while she tried to think of what to do. She piled the grass up and then picked it up and chewed it, trying to get it to become pulpy. Unfortunately, this type of plant didn’t pulp easily and it didn’t really work like she wanted it to, but this was all she had. “Hol shtill,” she told Padma through her mouthful of grass, and then spit the wad of wet grass into the nearest wound she could find and pressed it down with her paw.

           

A sharp yelp erupted from the girl as Strand pressed her paw into one of her wounds. Involuntarily, the girl wiggled. Trying to get away from the pain. “Stop.” She sobbed, “—Stra—” With the pain and the blood loss, Padma couldn’t take it anymore. What little awareness she had, left her. Falling limp against the grass, she passed out.