Redhawk Caldera When the summer ends.

They came promptly and Towhee offered them a grimace as they came nearer, inquiring about what had happened. "I wrecked," she said, looking directly at Tegan even as she tried to reassure all three of them with a casual humor she didn't feel. Speaking of which, the vague smirk that appeared vanished just as quickly as she added, "I hit this tree pretty hard. I'm not in pain, but..."

Her muzzle pointed at her left hind leg, which was splayed out beside her in an unusual position. She then glanced up at Ceara specifically. "It was tingling a bit but now it's mostly numb." Towhee bent slightly to nose her own hip. "From here," she said, "all the way down." Her orange gaze skirted down to her own toes before raising again, now shifting between her companions' faces.

She let the implications sink in for a moment before declaring, "I'm going to try to stand." See what happens, she added inwardly even as she heaved her weight forward onto her forelegs and lifted her posterior. She had to spread her forelegs wider than usual and brace her right hind leg to avoid teetering, especially on this slope, yet Towhee managed to stay upright. She was tempted to lean on the tree for support but she turned from it with an irritable snort.

And came face to face with her own useless limb, her paw dragging on the ground as if it were dead. Towhee didn't even have to try; she knew that if she attempted to put her weight on the leg, she would immediately crumple. She tried to shake her foot, bend her fetlock, even rotate the damn thing in its socket. Her leg did not respond beyond a feeble muscular twitch near her hip bone.

"Shit," she cursed under her breath, fighting growing panic again.