Wheeling Gull Isle My Order has detected an abnormal amount of transliminal energy

This will be my only post here!

In the days that followed her attack on John, Ana was unwell; plagued by dizzy spells, often distant and disengaged, more so than was typical for the darkling. Those who spoke to her would find her confused, unable to comprehend. She allowed no one to touch her, save @Ava Amara.

Her decline rapidly reached its peak when Ana woke one day with a strange, maddening buzz in her skull. She stumbled dizzily from the den, seeking one of her parents. Whether it was @Caracal or @Heda she found, Ana crept as close as she was allowed. A weak whine slipped from her, voice wavering.

Then she collapsed.

ava did not leave ana's side.

not even as ana began to stumble, her clicks turning into something alien and slurred.

not even as she crawled to the den, her posture sprawling and crab like.

and not even as she fell at the foot of it, laid out with the blood pounding drunkenly through a concussed brain.

before she knew it that primordial and endless growl had crept into her throat and made its home there. neurotic and besides herself, ava stood possessively over her collapsed sibling, her hysterical growls filling the small den in a rising series of thunderclaps.

finally learned, heda sped to prayer, to begging that god show her a way through light in which this could be addressed, in education and in penance if need be. so given was she to prayer that she was home once more, blessing their small beds and banishing darkness from her densite.
but ana arrived in fever and weakness; she caught the small girl with a cry and looked in shock at —
had —
john —
both of them were changed, somehow, and ava stood in such ferality that heda feared a bite, though she did not release ana even if it came. "come to bed, both of you," she ordered, and motioned the girls inside to her own sleeping-area shared with caracal. 
very firmly, heda tried not to give in to horror and rage — god, help me! — and told @Caracal in urgent call to find another healer on the mainland. two children were ill, hurt. go quickly, please.

she stood over ana with every blade of fur on end. her voice, so often silent, filled the den in keen cascades — rising even as a shadow stole between them. 

heda. mother. ava’s throat constricted in a child’s inconsolable wail — the snarls gurgling out to something indecipherable and wild;

a madness spread beneath her skin and made its home in her veins. the image of john burned in her mind. 

ana was pulled out from under her but ava did not react; she was sightless and senseless by shock, and it was not until heda gently ushered her to lie down did her cries cease, trickling into erratic breaths as her sister was tended to.

Caracal found himself at odds with his wife.

First there was the misapprehension about the mainland.

Then there was the fact that Caracal wanted to hurl John into the ocean.

(He’d kept that to himself and somehow kept his head as well, though silently he seethed at a grown man hurting a child. He didn’t give a shit about the details. All he could think about was Reyes throttling him; how it had screwed him up for life in some ways; and how he had zero tolerance for an adult harming a child under any circumstances.)

Now Heda wanted him to leave his family and fetch help on the mainland.

I will not, he said, crouching beside Ana, shaking as he tried to take her vitals. I will not leave her. I will not leave this island. Someone else can go. John can go.

Hopefully he would send help and never return himself.

Apparently I cure the Monday Meemies with drama, lol. Please do not hesitate to tell me if I should alter anything about this post!

caracal had never said such things before. her golden eyes were surprised and perhaps hurt as she glanced in incredulity at her husband.
but he too was worried for them, and heda wondered if they should send someone else. she wouldn't fight the refusal, but somehow it lodged into her chest; 
she smoothed little ava and cuddled ana close. "will you ask manea to go?" she asked in a tone never used before, one of soft submission that she hoped would persuade caracal in that direction. neither of them could leave, truly; another would have to go.

Although he could not bring himself to regret staying by Ana’s side, Caracal immediately felt contrite for his sharp tongue. Still cradling the little girl’s limp body, he looked up at Heda, trying to catch her eye to apologize with his own. He would beg for her forgiveness and ask her to give him penance later, though presently her next query waylaid his attention.

I’m a medic, remember? Never mind that he’d totally ignored that aspect of his life since before their reunion. I’m going to stay right here beside Ana. I wouldn’t mind some backup, though, he continued, sitting up a little from his crouch over Ana. We can call for help together, request anyone who can to head to the mainland to seek medical assistance. Tell them we think it’s a head injury…

Caracal tried to think of what he knew about such things. Considering her prior symptoms, this went way beyond a headache, though the same principles might still apply. Perhaps a cold compress might help. He recollected something vague about ginger, though nothing about its application. It was hard to think, when he was staring down at his unresponsive little girl.

He couldn’t bring himself to leave her side, so he said, Heda, Ava, could you find something—a clump of moss or… or a seasponge, if we have one handy—and soak it in cold water? Don’t wring it. Just soak it as much as possible and bring it to me.

Meanwhile, he gingerly shifted his forelegs, slipping one beneath her neck to prop up her head and give it a softer pillow than the hard ground. He thought the movement might wake her, though Ana didn’t so much as stir. Caracal swallowed and stared into her slack face. He realized he was breathing hard right into it and had the errant thought: I’m surprised my bad breath hasn’t woken her up!

Lauren gave me permission to skip Ava for this round.

caracal had meant nothing by it. heda forgave him and focused all her energies on the injuries of their children. she felt chagrined by her doubt in her mate, and was happy to leave for a few minutes, bringing back a waterlogged sponge.
quietly she stood to one side as caracal made ana comfortable, pulling ava into her embrace for the same.
there was nothing to say. her mind fell to prayer and her ears were attentive to anything else her husband might say. after all, heda wasn't a healer. but he was, and so her trust was placed promptly upon them, even as she tried to quell the panic that still hadn't banked down inside her gut.
were they going to be okay?

ava heard nothing of her parent’s exchange. while her cries of alarm subsided, her mind was leagues away — she saw nothing but the same image replayed over and over again, ana’s small form struck and thrown to the ground.

she was gathered within heda’s arms; at this point her breath had softened, and she came back to the present in slow gasps.

she watched as caracal tended to her sister and thought — where is god? where is the great god now? did he see his children?

did he care?