Wild Berry Meadow ludus

Pain encompassed her world, a hearty throb that rattled in her shoulder and throbbed on her foot. Starbuck gave herself a few moments to breathe deeply, to recover from the initial shock. In, out, and she carefully rose her head and readjusted her tangled limbs to look at her paws. She saw the claws were cracked and broken, painful beyond compare. They were a bloodied mess, and so she bent, careful of her shoulder, to lick at them.

And so she was when he came upon her, nursing the wounds. It was his voice that caught her attention, she was too preoccupied to see him coming. Yet she did not startle, though instinct roared for her to flee, to fight. She quelled nature and took on the glassy mask of her nurture, doing her best to hide her pain. I suppose I am, she said quietly, her voice strained. She was surprised to hear him ask, and looked again upon him. He was a fearsome creature, made so not by his size but the dried blood pawprint upon him. You will help? she asked, hopeful. You will have to hurt me. She was not yet sure if the shoulder was fully dislocated or merely subluxed, but quick investigation proved that it had not popped entirely free of the joint.