If Jinx could coax the autumn woman into conflict, it would be even better. She longed to sink her teeth into the Vale wolf's flesh and show her what a real wolf was all about. Yet when she arrived in Northstar Vale, it was to find it wholly devoid of wolf presence. The newest scents were days old, but she couldn't discern the reason for their departure from the scents alone.
Though she felt cheated of her stress relief, the Kesuk nevertheless grinned as she crossed into their “sanctuary”, which had given no salvation after all, if Lecter was to be believed. She thought it was karma, and what a sweet thought it was.
They were gone.
Somehow she knew that this was to occur - that the pack would fall to pieces around her. Tenzin had brought a beast with them, but it had been to protect her. It was all because of her, every avenue of survival that the trio were forced to take. And then there was the avalanche. A ruinous reaction of karma brought down upon them - but why? Dawa had never really thought about it. But she thought about it now, with her body so ruined and her two guardians gone.
In an effort to find someone, Dawa had tried to crawl from her cave. The place where she had been laid to rest by... Someone. Someone she didn't know, and could not find now in her time of need. It had been a tiring process without the use of her rear legs. The weight of them was barely noticed, save for the moments where an ankle would get caught upon a root, or her belly dragged over a sharp rock.
She stopped when the effort became too much, and simply.. Sat. No, not just sat, but sagged like a deflated balloon across the soil. The girl was oblivious to the stranger within her home, and would remain that way - her mind riddled with thoughts of Tenzin and the Dragon, of her own inadequacies, and most importantly: the growing struggle to breathe.
A quietness had fallen over the Vale and for Tenzin, it was relaxing. For whatever reason, the Dragon had gone and released the monk from purgatory. It seemed as if its mate had left as well though Xi'nuata's absence was missed where the Dragon's was not. He used this newly found freedom to wander the Vale with ease once again. The Dragon's fire had driven off the other Vale members too. A frown pulled on his lips as he slowly wove his way through the trees, slowing more when he caught traces of Dawa's scent. He looked toward his paws and saw where she had been pulling herself along the ground. That hurt him more than anything.
There were many things he had been prepared for, but her death was not one of them. She hadn't died yet but the process was going slowly enough to torture him. He had been contemplating putting her out of her misery while he had been brooding in the mountain, but finally admitted to himself it was something he could not do. He followed her trail with a concerned air. She would have noticed the absences and would probably be wondering if he had left her as well. Dawa's mother, Yonten, had always been a danger to his monkhood - and the same went for Dawa herself. He was not allowed to take mates or have children, yet he found himself caring for Dawa as if she were his own.
He saw her slumped over and stopped some ways behind her. He took in her solitary state and wondered what was going through her mind. Did she know she was surely pass away soon? He did not want her to believe it was because she was useless, but he wouldn't be able to lie to her about her injuries. It was because of those. He approached her with his head hung low and made a soft woof sound. "My child," he called gently to her as he moved to be beside her. "An important journey lies ahead of you," the monk said softly, lowering himself to his belly as he simply relaxed just being next to her. "There will be others waiting for you to guide you," he explained, but stopped suddenly as a dangerous scent turned the wind sour.
His ears pricked and he rose, standing tall but withholding any dominance in his stance. There was nothing to be dominant of now, not that he ever had been a dominant wolf anyway. Whatever trouble had come to them now, he would not be able to save Dawa. She was to be dead soon anyway, and if Tenzin could not do it himself, perhaps he shouldn't fight the chance to let some other do the deed for him. It was an awful thought and he cursed himself silently for it, but it was the painful truth. His eyes flicked wildly across the trees in search of who was approaching. "Your mother will be there," he continued, voice even more hushed than it had been before. "Your mother, my best friend, Yonten," he went on and choked on the name. It brought him great distress to speak of her to Dawa. He was not sure if she even knew Jampa was not her mother.
Tenzin lowered himself to his belly again, talking quickly. "You might not remember, but she died when you were born. Jampa looked after you, as did I," he was nearly on the verge of tears and it was completely ridiculous for him to even be so emotional. He had trained his entire life not to be bothered with such pain. "I loved her," the monk choked through the whisper and closed his eyes shut tight. "I loved your mother, and I love you, Dawa," he mumbled, opening his eyes to a blurry world that brought about a ghost in the woods. He held his breath as his vision cleared and he could make out the shape of one of the Creek wolves that had caused trouble with them before. From the looks of her, she didn't look like she was here to congratulate them on the disappearance of the Dragon. Perhaps she didn't know?
"You're everything to me," he said in one final whisper as he rose again, stepping forward to attempt and stop the stranger before she could rip into Dawa. The air about her was fiery and unsettling. "Friend," Tenzin called out, voice somewhat shaky due to his previous confessions. He knew this wolf was not a friend, but if he had been listening to Lecter correctly, this was the shaman's wife. The monk's respect for Lecter lead him to disassociate as much of the Creek as he could with Jinx, but it was hard for him to let go of feelings as he often did when he was dangerously emotional at the moment.
She was planning to turn around and go back home, satisfied with the eradication of her single most-hated rivals, when instead she discovered a wolf queerly placed upon the ground as though she was made of rubber instead of bones and flesh. Jinx was briefly reminded of Zombie, but her resolve was hardened from those days. She did not approach, but instead growled a quiet, “what are you?”
That was when someone addressed her as friend, and with a start, she sidestepped to reveal Tenzin from behind a tree. The monk was coming toward her, or at least in front of the crumpled wolf, and this made her hackles prickle uncomfortable. “I am not your friend,” she said back, standing stiff-legged and still. “I came to ensure all had left this place. Your ilk has aggravated me on more than one occasion, and it brings me joy to know they are no longer here.”
She did, however, remember Lecter mentioning a gentle creature locked within the Vale that he wished to release. Perhaps this was the one her mate had spoken of, and if so, then he was in reality a potential friend.