Broken Boulder who wants to live forever?

Any sense of time was now gone. Having been stuck in her den for so long, Lily felt as if nothing tied her to this world. There was no semblance of order in the world; all was chaos. Chaos and cat piss.

More them had died, and some of the wolves hung on the edge, as well. By some stroke of luck, there was no dark tunnel for her, no light at the end. Not yet. Whatever god or gods ruled the universe had decided to spare her. She rose one morning--or was it night?--without as much ache in her limbs, and her stomach stayed still when she moved.

She was hungry, thirsty, disheveled. . .but alive.

Lily stumbled blindly through the corridor, adjusting to walking once more. It was a mess in here--blood and puke, excrement, feline carcasses. . . Her nose wrinkled at the stench, and she gagged, picking up her pace in a panicked effort to get out. Only the sight of @Eris, lying near motionless in her den, brought her to an awkward halt. The blackbird leaned in, recoiling at the horrendous smell.

God, was that what her den smelled like, too?

"Eris?" she called softly, placing a paw inside despite every shred of common sense warning her not to do so. But she had already gotten sick--she couldn't catch it again, right? Once and done--

Right?

delirious

struggling to balance a thinning tightrope between life and death.  she is drowning in the rattling fluid her lungs have produced; no longer can she smell the awful stench that emenates from her core

her eyes crusted shut.  the rise-fall of her scalloped ribcage is slow.  somewhere far away, she hears: eris?

one ear swivels in the direction of lily.  it takes all of the effort in her aching bones to turn her body.  ye-ees? comes her stretched, dying voice; for now it is all she can offer her once-confidant.

Oh, my. Eris looked like nothing more than a breathing corpse. Fetid and feverish, she croaked only one word before falling silent, and Lily let out a small, concerned sound, rushing with haste to her friend's side. The voices telling her to STOP grew louder, but she didn't care. She pressed herself against Eris, trying to provide her with some--

What? Warmth? Comfort? She didn't know what to give her in this moment; she didn't know what she could give, that would be of any use at all.

Lily's throat tightened as tears came to her eyes, and she pressed her face into Eris's matted pelt, forgetting the stench entirely. "Shhh, I'm here," she whispered, pulling the girl into her embrace. Her stomach began to tremble with the effort of keeping sobs at bay. "I'm here, Eris. It's going to be all right."

ah, fuck.  she didn't want this to be how she was remembered.  the spitfire remembered herself, and snorted the best she could despite the congestion.  i'm.. alright, she says indignantly, as if she were stubborn enough she could stave off the cold grip of death.  hah.

i missed you.

She smiled quietly at Eris' attempt at normalcy, as if she could just drag herself out of this illness herself. Perhaps she would recover. But even when viewed through the lens of Lily's sunny optimism, it seemed unlikely. It would be an uphill battle, for sure.

"I missed you, too," Lily whispered, cuddling closer. "I'm sorry I haven't been. . .around much, lately." Physically, yes, but she meant it mostly in the emotional sense. Blow after blow to her psyche had rained down on her in the past moons, and she had withdrawn more than she had intended. She would regret it, if--when?--she were to lose this friend.

she was glad that lily had her voice back.  she'd missed talking to her, and it was weird without her chatterbox.  it's ok.  eris and lily had both been preoccupied with their own stuff, but they had time for each other now.

she was also glad for this moment of lucidity.  sometimes she slipped, and sometimes she forgot things.  it wouldn't last forever, so she'd savor it as she could.  so what have you been up to?

She laughed, a rueful, soft sound that rustled the fur on the nape of Eris' neck. "This," Lily sighed, trying to encompass it all in one word--the fever, the ache, the isolation. "I've been sick, too. It's only this morning that I've started to feel better. But it was. . .bad, for a while."

The blackbird rested her chin gently on her friend's shoulder, looking over the emaciated body at her face. Her beautiful face. Crusted and gaunt as it was, she was still gorgeous, and always would be. "It's always darkest before dawn," Lily whispered, thinking of the kind of thing her mother would say, in this situation. It had been for her, at least. Maybe the sentiment would hold true for Eris, too.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" she offered.

she laughs and coughs, trying to prevent the back of her neck from whacking lily in the chin.  the sound is prolonged, but it gives way eventually to silence.

that sucks.  i'm sorry.  bright orange eyes flicker to her paws.  she knows she looks pitiful.  but does she really look like she needds help?  what are you, my keeper? she asks with a touch of jest.  alarian has been tending to her, but.. help me get to water.

The coughing sounded horrible, something alien. Like it was a spirit other than Eris than possessed her body. Lily cringed, trying not to let it show too much in her face; it was bad enough her friend likely felt the subtle movement. She was happy that Eris rebuffed her so heartily. At least she was not done fighting--not yet, anyway.

"That's kind of a slog," Lily murmured, thinking of how far the walk was to the stream. How much more difficult it would be, for one wolf on the brink of death and the other just steps away. "But I can try. Lean on me?"

She rolled over and began to lift herself, a little unsteadily, onto her feet. The blackbird glanced over at Eris, dubious she could even get up at all.