Felltree Marsh Mutilate, Maul, Maim, Mangle

The marsh was beginning to freeze over, making it far easier to pass through and Phobos' trips to the Herbalist's Cache far shorter. Approaching the once wet, mud covered area he lowered his nose to the ground without thinking much of it.

God, it really did smell.

A wrinkle of his nose and the man was on his way through. There was no time to waste if he did not want his mate to worry. He hoped to be home not too long after dark, for he had left at dawn.

His mind was clear, his wounds had faded, today was looking as though it would turn out well - but perhaps he should not speak too soon.

tags for ref

Her journey had only just began, and Viskani wished to check off some unfinished business whilst she awaited chaleurs.

The coastal pack of which Chaudry and @Chesley had reported some time ago was her goal. She was not one to risk stirring up trouble, but seeing the mutilated face of her baby brought out an all too familiar rage - moreso when Chaudry told her of who had caused it.

She would not harm him, no, not while he was in a pack of his own. But tell them of his crimes? That she would do. It would not leave her satisfied, but what could she do? Surely Phobos was not one to wander far with that strange disease of his.

And yet, today seemed to be smiling down upon her.

Just ahead, a face that she knew all too well. Her eyes squinted into a smile. Phobos, c'est vrai alors, tu es en vie ? She called to the man whom she had never looked upon with anything but disdain. Her claws gripped the ground below her, as if to say 'not yet'.

The voice of a woman rung in his ears. Sulfurous, grating, sickeningly laced with sweet honey that he knew all too well to be poison.

His head turning to the sound, his breath hitched at the sight. He had expected it to be her, but he felt fear all the same.

They were alone. She may be shorter than he, but he beat her in musculature by miles. He knew all too well what Viskani was capable of with the right motivations, and he knew all too well that only a few months ago they had been handed to her on a silver platter.

Long, stumbling legs twisted around to run back toward Sapphique - when he found the ice made it hard to reach his full speed, he let out a bark with the hopes that someone may hear.

Never before now had Phobos feared death, but maybe until now he simply had not found his reason to live.

He had to make it home. For Pepper.

He ran at the sight of her, called for those nearby to come to his aid.

Viskani snarled; to her that only meant that he knew that he had done wrong. She would not allow the consequences to be evaded. Taking off after him was no challenge - why he bothered to try at all was the question.

Lunging forward she grabbed him by the scruff, yanking and shaking him like a rabbit. She would not kill him herself, no, that would be too quick. Leaving him to suffer a long, painful death was far more suitable to a man who had subjected her son to such cruelty, to a man who had once allowed his own blood to die to an all too similar fate.

She spotted a nearby rock, and without hesitation not tossed but threw him against it. He was lucky; his back legs hit, but the upper body did not.

The crack of brittle bone, the sight of red blood. Viskani lurched forward again, grabbing the left leg and twisting it roughly until he cried, her back paws harsh on the right.

His body had always been weak, fragile, the was reason for him to be cautious, reason for Pepper to be protective.

The force of rock to weak legs ensured the shattering of the right, Viskani breaking the left by her own means. He could do nothing but struggle, cry in a pain that he never had the displeasure of knowing.

She left without a word, but Phobos understood.

She intended to leave him to rot. To die in pain, slowly and without the ability to escape it for he could not move. But he was stubborn.

He cried and howled until the pain forced him to drift into a sleep. He could only hope to be found in time.