Silver Moraine Dark clouds, dark skies, bad weather

Someone from RR maybe?

Down from the willows, wandering and aimless.

Breathing was ragged. It took too much effort - so it became shallow, and he ambled along as if half-asleep until...

Missing a step, the giant went off-kilter and down. The dust settled moments later and while he still drew breath, Glaukos became one with the stone escarpment.

Above him a raven caught the air, circling, and hungry.

fuck timelines im doin this

if Prophet or Ashlar—or bless her heart, Masque—knew she'd slipped away, they'd be hot on her heels. perhaps they'd still follow, once they noticed. 

for now, though, the red woman is alone, profoundly gravid but thankful to stretch her legs upon the expanse of the plains. she smells deer nearby and yearns to chase them; it's a risk she can't take, though, and even if she wanted to, her added bulk and resulting fatigue would hamper her.

Avicus trots along, tongue lolling. the packed snow is melting. instead of gliding over the surface as in midwinter, she feels it buckle beneath her paws in spots, and there's a moisture on her pads that hadn't been there a moon ago.

spring is coming.

she reaches the edge of the moraine, sides heaving, out of breath. her eyes rake over the rocky, barren landscape of grays and whites and—

Glaukos.

Claw, she calls out. she'd almost missed him, save that he'd landed near a vivid patch of snow and his wolfish figure was distinguishable against it. not a boulder. a boulder of a man.

she ambles quick as she can toward him, belly swinging slightly as she moves.

I was already planning on tossing her in this lol! She’s welcome to just be lurking in the background

Redd knew that Wealda should not be leaving but she also knew it was not her place to correct this.  The only wolf she had ever seen her mother defer to was the Hælend, but this to Redd was natural somehow because of his low station.  He posed no threat and could be easily turned to submission if the cause came.  Yet his knowledge to the pack was valuable, if nothing more than a bizarre mystery to her.  She preferred blood to flowers.

It was blood she found today when she found Avicus.  She’d followed to ensure no harm came, but she’d intended to remain back and out of direct sight.  When she scented the other wolf and his injured state she moved in closer, both in curiosity and in the instinctual defensiveness it inspired.  There was a higher risk of danger here.

She rumbled, a low question in the sound for Wealda to answer.  What needed done with this discovery?

The raven circled once more, then drifted onwards when it spotted the approach of two ruddy figures; it knew better than to compete against the wolves, especially given how symbiotic their relationship typically was. The bird became an eyelash, a figment, and was gone.

Glaukos was alive and breathing, and so tired. His eyes opened halfway when he heard a voice; they did not focus so well as Avicus approached, but he was cognizant, if a bit hazy.

He barely moved except to breathe. Everything felt hot. It felt as if he were nowhere, as if his body wasn't his body any longer. When he smelled other wolves - sensed their proximity - some deeper, bestial instinct told him, get up!

They could be threats.

He was in no state to combat them, now.

the blood-scent reaches her nose as she approaches, and the shadows of ravens overhead flit across her wrinkled muzzle. before she can say another word, she hears pawsteps behind her and turns to see her daughter with a wordless query, rumbling in her chest.

findh Hælend, she instructs, voice quiet but sharp, insistent. bring him here.

not waiting for a response, she wheels back to Glaukos and gives him a brief whuff. ihh' Avi, she introduces herself, lest he not recognize her through the pain clouding his senses. i'm gonna gehh' you help.

her nostrils twitch and flare, picking up the iron reek of old blood and a faint, putrid smell that hints at something worse. Ashlar needed to get here, and soon.

@Redd - you can enter w/ Ashlar or just PP him with Redd - up to you!

She did not like to leave Wealda alone but this wolf was no immediate threat.  Redd spared a single glance before whirling and taking off.

She would howl for Hælend as soon as she reached earshot.  And she would bring him here with the things needed to attend this situation.

He stood, somehow, for a few seconds at least; his legs and shoulders quaking. Glaukos braced where he wobbled and tried to face his enemy, seeing a flash of red before him - and another moving quickly away, and he thought he was being circled. He tried to move with the more active figment (as Redd fled the scene) but he lost his balance and collided shoulder-down to the earth again.

as Redd departs, Glaukos moves with her, only to slip, fall, and probably further aggravate his injury.

no, she says firmly, standing before him. her teeth aren't bared, but she does flash him her sternest countenance, daring him to move again. you're hurhh'. we're helpin' you.

god, she hopes Ashlar gets here quickly. even down for the count, her old packmate is much larger than she is, and she doubts she could stop him if he decides to really book it.

instead, she tries to distract him (if possible). whahh' happenedh? Avicus asks.

Redd remained back when she arrived with Ashlar in tow.  She sensed that keeping her distance was the correct move, but she refused to leave entirely while Wealda was there.  Ashlar would not protect her well enough should things turn.

Her stare was mostly trained on the stranger.  Would he remain or move on?She did not understand entirely why they helped a stranger, though nor did she mind it.

Lucidity was fleeting. It came briefly when the healer came to attend him, which was a fortunate shift as Glaukos was more likely to rip Ashlar's face off for being so close; but for that time the soldier saw who had come to him, and heard the slurring of Avicus' voice - holding fast to it with all his mental might (which weakened by the second).

He managed to murmur, Boar, and after sucking a few more breaths, stabbed; tried for.. Mereo, it was hard to take deeper breaths with his battered ribs and the punctures to his abdomen by the boar's own tusks, most of which were festering wounds.

Summer is here early. He moaned, shifting back to delirium.

Ashlar was cautious as he approached and non threatening as possible. The wounds were ugly and infected. They would need extended treatment but he would do what he could to start here.

He’ll need to stay to recover. Ashlar added softly, once the other man had fallen quiet. His eyes went to her briefly, then returned to focus on the work in front of him, though he listened for her answer as he tended the worst of it. He would be a drain on the rise… and if she denied it, Ashlar would treat him best he could here. But they could hardly offer him safety and the Hælend couldn’t stay out here constantly. The stranger had less of a chance if that were the case.

boar. stabbed. Mereo.

some of the words she knows.

she shakes her head at Ashlar's remarks. do whah' you can here, she replies, buhh' we needha 'hhake him home wi' us. heal 'im.

Avicus glances down at the proud, burly warrior. we'll care for you, she thinks, but the babies rolling and kicking within her are a distraction. she winces at a particular jab, sucking in a breath.

bring him backh, she commands, and points her nose toward the Rise. 

Glaukos will come home with them.

Ashlar nodded, and before he could even ask for help, Redd was there next to him. She was unnervingly silent at times.

Together they would get Glaukos back to the Rise and there Ashlar would focus on tending him, cleansing the infection and helping his body to fight that which would kill him. Food, water, medicines - all that he needed would be provided, with assistance if necessary.

Ashlar refused to allow him to die if he could help it. There had been too many he had not prevented. This one he would save.