Arrow Lake Something else

@Mahler please?

After a short period of time where it probably seemed she may have vanished if not for her scent lingering and the sight of her dragging occasional prey around, she was now back to her usual routine of checking up on everything. Except now her main concern was her shoulder. The hunt had been successful though it had left her with soreness that made it almost unbearable to walk sometimes and other days it seemed non-existent. The only one she knew capable of helping was Mahler, so she sought him out her injured limb held off the ground because today was one of those painful days.

while he was impressed with kazimir's handling of the hunt, mahler was worried in regard to the injuries she might have sustained after being thrown by the moose. and so he sought her out, dismayed by the mismatched tracks of her trail, and further so by the woman herself when he finally spotted her in the distance.
"kazimir, stop," he commanded gently with a call, loping toward the huntress until the distance between them was closed. bending forward, mahler wasted no time in beginning a brisk inspection of her limbs. "you have torn something," he declared, lifting his eyes back to her face and awaiting an answer.

She heard his voice from behind her and paused, turning around awkwardly "I was looking for you Mahler" she said with a smile "for that exact reason". She sat down and motioned to her bad leg "The moose's initial attack damaged it badly. On the second one i twisted it and felt it tear in several places. Now sometimes i can move it. Others I can't" she explained the problem, sounding monotone as she forced herself to ignore the fear.

he nodded, lips a grim line against his usual quiet expression. he wanted to chide her, suddenly, as he had not during the pack hunt, but decided it would be for naught. kazimir had learned her lesson. "come vith me, into the vater," he instructed, looking the short distance to the lake. "the coldness may very vell help the torn muscles mend, vith all due hope."

She stumbled toward him a sharp cry escaping before she could stop it as her leg felt like it had been bitten deep in the muscle and caved. She flattened her ears as the moment allowed a blatantly terrified and hopeless expression to come onto her face. If she couldn't even limp that distance what good would she be? She nodded her head, affirming that she could make it to the water and lifted her leg, slowly taking wobbly unbalanced steps on three legs. She felt her independence shake and knew she needed his help and paused sighing "Can you help balance me out on my injured side. Don't hold me" her tone grew firm at the end and she softened again "just...bump me up if I fall again" she whispered avoiding his gaze.

to be so vulnerable before him; he knew truly she was injured. wordlessly, mahler gave a single nod and accompanied her into the bite of the water, close enough to offer support but not so near that he injured further her pride. for a long series of moments they were still; he used his muzzle to splash water gently over her leg.
at length, the gargoyle decided they had spent enough time in the lake, and began to move toward the shore, mouth a grim line as he regarded kazimir closely.

It ground against her pride that she even needed the help, she was weak and wobbly like a pup. His silence was appreciated and throughout the time spent in the water it became clear that her leg would heal but the muscle damage was severe enough she'd always have trouble with it. She followed him out of the water, her bad leg held up and good legs trembling with the effort of standing now completely drenched and aching. She lifted her eyes to his face his own expression serious "I know it's bad and I knew the risk I took. I wanted it's attention on me so Aurewen and Ingram would be safer from its hooves" she didn't want to be chided like a child, especially not by him. "How bad do you really think it is Mahler?" she asked him softly though the vulnerability was gone and replaced with a steel edged determination.  She would come back from this and when she did, she would make sure another mistake didn't happen.

"i know vhy you did it, kazimir," mahler said softly, wanting to impress upon the she-wolf that she needn't explain her actions to him. he had been there, and even had he not, the gargoyle knew well the chaos of the hunt, and how very quickly things could change for those involved. 
the memory of the lone wolf who had been killed hunting in their claim came to mind; his skull had been caved, and steam had risen from the blood upon the snow. "not so bad," mahler murmured, for she could at least walk. "you vill require extra rest. but you vill recover."

It was a relief that she wouldn't lose her leg and an even bigger relief that she only needed extra rest instead of resting all the time. She smiled and blew out a small breath, laughing softly "Is that all? Good, alright. Thank you Mahler" she said brightly and in her excitement began to awkwardly and unsteadily walk past him before she paused. She hesitated and her heart did this weird twinge inside her chest as she turned to look at him, eyes shining with an apologetic warmth "Thank you for patching me up again Mahler" she said gently and gave a slow wag "I'm going to rest" she announced quickly and turned away her ears twitching as she hobbled off. 

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