A thousand teeth and yours among them.

How many days had he been away from the caldera? Too many. That was the only answer that popped in to his head now, as he limped his way back towards the borderlands. The rain had not let up too much since it began, but it was less tumultuous than before. The cold did not bother him - in fact, Njal found it soothing to his wounded leg. His left hind limb was askew in a grotesque manner, and his hip joint looked to have failed to some degree; the leg was dislocated as well as broken, not suited for walking on, which would explain his absence.

And the grimace on his face as he came to a halt, and fell to his good side.

Elwood normally didn't mind the rain, but he kept a wary eye on the sky as he wrapped up his patrol. Although the clouds were dark, they didn't hold the same dangerous promise that the big storm had; even so, he was eager to head home and dry off with Finley and Eljay. He started to move away from the borders but a figure slumped on the ground nearby drew his attention.

Ears pricked and nostrils flared, the Beta approached slowly and carefully. It took him a moment, but he eventually identified the wolf -- it was Njal, a friend of Fox's that had been with them a few weeks prior to the tornado. He seemed to be in bad shape, and Elwood prepared himself to call for Sebastian or Raven if necessary. His gaze lingered on Njal's twisted hind leg for a long few seconds. "Njal?" he questioned, coming to a tentative halt a few feet from the disheveled male.

He lay against the wet earth without a thought in his head. It was hard to think with all of the pain in his body. Njal had made it to the borderlands by the grace of gods - whose, he wasn't sure. As soon as one of them descended from their heavenly throne to demand their thanks, he would readily give it. The beast tried to stay conscious; he had made it this far, what was a few more hours? Days? Someone would be along eventually.

And he was not disappointed. A bit out of his mind, sure, but happy when a voice spilled out from the shadows. (Everything was shadows now, he realized). They knew his name - good. He tried to respond, but the name that fell from his lips - "Malachi..?" - was the first wolf to pop in to his mind, and not the correct one. Njal shifted as best he could and lurched, pulling his front limbs beneath his chest so he could turn his head.

"Elwood. There's a storm coming..." He muttered as his vision began to swim (or was it raining?). Had he gotten back in time to warn them? No. No, that made no sense. The trees had shuddered and the ground had quaked, the air was sucked form his lungs - the trees, they fell at him. That was how this happened. He had been trapped beneath one of them for hours, had to break his own leg.

"Wait, the... Are you alright? Is everyone..?" He wanted to ask about Tuwawi, about the glacier, but the thought faded as soon as he caught a good angle of Elwood's face; he was still stuck in the past, evidently.

Maybe @Sebastian or @Ashton can come help? :) Silly tags, re-tagged Ashton at the bottom of this post!

There was confusion evident in Njal's face and in his words; Elwood was honestly surprised to find that he was even conscious. The injured wolf addressed him as Malachi at first, then corrected himself. Good, Elwood thought when he correctly identified him by name. He knew little to nothing about trauma, but he assumed that it was a positive sign that Njal knew who he was, even if he had initially made a mistake.

Again, he fumbled with his sentences, warning Elwood about the storm before seeming to gain more clarity. "The storm's over; everyone's okay," he replied with a nod of his head, hoping to ease Njal's worry. The caldera itself had taken a hit, but other than the drainage from the lake, the damage to the territory was minimal. "What happened to your leg? Can you walk any further?" he asked, shifting his gaze to Njal's hind limb.

"I'm going to call for help," he said in the next instant. He would certainly need more medical attention than Elwood could provide; perhaps even Ashton would be of assistance. The Beta tipped his head back and howled for the pack's healers, requesting their presence promptly.

@Ashton

I'm going to have Njal explain himself a little while they wait for medical help. Feel free to hop in whenever dudes!

"That's good. Good. Very.." He responded and drawled, gradually drifting out of the conversation. It was a miracle that the old man had made it this far, really. A pure miracle. He did it out of an intense instinct to survive, to see his kids again, even though those children - and his wife, his old life - were long gone. 

When asked about his injury, Njal laughed. The chortle coming out of him was bizarre, given the circumstances (and his character). "I had to break it. Funny story." Not really that funny though. He started to tell Elwood, but paused when the howl lifted in to the air; the beast shrank down from the sound, finding comfort in the cold of the grass. And when the sound was gone, he tried to find his thoughts again. 

"Hunting first... I found a herd and tracked it, wanted to study it a little. And the winds picked up, so I.." Decided to stay overnight, apparently. But the memory was skewed. "I don't really remember. The trees were being pulled around a lot, and I think one fell on me. I had to.. Do this... To escape." With that he tried to wiggle his hind legs and his toes, but the dislocated one barely moved; he winced at the effort. Sucked in a sharp breath and, with gritted teeth, planted his chin against the mud. "Hurts."

Perfect! :) One more post for tonight then I'm off to bed. <3

Elwood lowered himself to the ground next to Njal, ignoring the splattering of the rain against his shoulders and haunches. Until help arrived, there wasn't much else he could do. Njal began to explain what had happened to him, and Elwood realized that perhaps it would be beneficial to keep him talking. It could clear his mind and prevent him from succumbing to the tremendous pain he must have been in. The Beta certainly wanted him to stay conscious.

He listened intently, wet grey ears pressed forward to capture every word. It sounded as though Njal had been caught up in the storm while hunting, and when he sought shelter, a tree had fallen on him and broken his leg. No -- he had broken his leg, in order to escape. He must have been trapped. Elwood sucked in a sharp breath.

"Wow. We're going to get you some help; I don't want you to move too much until someone gets here," he said, the grimace on his face reflecting his sympathy. Njal had been through a lot already; hopefully he would receive medical assistance soon. "Do you remember how far away you were?" he asked, posing a question of little consequence that would encourage Njal to continue thinking and talking.

The doctor heard the call, and served with ease from his running trek to the beacon. What could have happened, this time? 
There was that voice in his heart, 
Please let it be Som.
Yup, that was the voice.

Approaching the pair at the border, the hippie slowed his gait, and trotted over. 
Newcomer? 
His leg looks funny. Him, relative to not Somnia. Damnit.

"What's up, El?"

Ash was assuming he was here to doctor the greyscale, and without warning, his brain already began dissecting the problem as it lay.

How far had he been? The storm had appeared suddenly, and chased him in to the trees, but there weren't many forests between the caldera and.. Anywhere, except south. He hadn't arrived from the south, this was the eastern edge of the territory. Thinking was really hard. "I was at a lake, but not one I knew." Njal slurred as he tried to remember, "Well, not a lake. A river? But not a river." It was water but he couldn't explain what kind of water source. "When the wind picked up I headed for cover towards the... Mesa? The rocks. And then I found some safety in the trees, I thought."

As he explained this, another wolf finally arrived and addressed Elwood. Njal didn't stop his explanation, seemingly able to understand the importance of the conversation he was having. But when he had nothing else to say, he fell quiet and rested in the mud.

Njal replied, although his description of his location was jumbled and confused. He made a good effort to remember, though, and Elwood nodded, his expression encouraging. The Beta would have posed another set of questions, but he was alerted to the approach of another wolf. When he looked over his shoulder, he was relieved to see Ashton.

"Hey, Ashton. This is Njal; he's one of our members, but he got caught out in the wild during the storm. He said a tree fell on him and he had to break his leg to escape," Elwood explained, wincing even as he pictured Njal's predicament. "Do you think you can help?" he asked. This would be a perfect opportunity for Ashton to prove himself, although the priority was to repair Njal's leg. He then glanced at the injured male and added, "This is Ashton. He's a medic."

Well, damn. Breaking his legs to get out of a tight place? Noble. 
Ash listened to the situation, wondering if he had met this man before he had left for the herb scavenging trip, but the it away. Of course he hasn't met him. And of course he would be given a nice home back at the Dera, welcome to stay, returning to everyone, a warm welcome, right? While Ash has to sit here and doctor this, doctor that, when he was ripped astray of his own gemstone. He is chained to his own misery, and he can't break his legs to get free. There was no warm return or regard for his absence. Instead he spends his time drowning in the guilt every time he walks past that fifth infirmary den, the barricaded room he had never felt happier in. He has saved so many lives in his absence, but nope. 

With his trademarked grin, he winked at El. 
That grin was alot more hollow than any grin had a right to be.

" I think we got a fighter in the Dera. If anything, I think the only not he has to worry on is placement of the bone shards. If he gave a quick bite, it could've sheared any fragments from the primary bone, and cause minor internal bleeding, along with lacerations to surrounding muscle. "

Emerald irises turned to the patient, the resting form before him. 

"Njal, you don't have any head injuries, do you? Any uncommon bleeding, or leakage from nose, mouth ears or eyes in the past week?"

If the golden doctor had known all of what the older wolf before him had been through, he would have had more sympathy for the dude. But as the hippie was, he was too busy suffocating in restraint from flipping shit, and throwing himself at a bear. Until then, he would simply fake it till he made it.

Head injuries? It was possible (probable) but he couldn't remember. When the tree had cracked and fallen in to him, pinned him in place, he had blacked out. That would have indicated some kind of head trauma - except he was fairly lucid a few hours later, and was able to break himself free of his situation (so to speak). Then again, that might not have been the reaction of a sound mind. 

"Head's O.K." He responded, sighing through his nose like a defeated dragon. "The only thing that leaks is my leg. Or it did, until I muddied it up." He hadn't been able to look at his leg in a while; his back was bruised, his shoulders ached, and turning in any drastic measure only made him twitch out with pain. "Dunno how broke my leg is either. Twisted it pretty bad." That, and the blow from the fallen tree had knocked his hip joint out of place. If his leg hadn't been broken, he'd still have been sluggish to return.

Njal peered with his sleepy eyes towards Ashton, but didn't have the energy to watch him for long. "So, doc, can you fix it?" It hadn't been long since the storm ended, but any extended period of ill-treatment (or lack of treatment altogether) would be bad for his broken limb. What if they had to amputate it?

Despite the circumstances of Ashton's disappearance -- and Somnia's consequent vanishing act -- Elwood still trusted his skill as a healer. He had proven himself time and time again before leaving the Caldera, and so it was with respect that the Beta deferred to him now. Ashton was proficient in his trade, and Elwood listened raptly as he mused over Njal's leg and asked a few questions to try to determine the best treatment.

He let his mind wander for a moment. Although Ashton still retained his unique way of speaking, there was something different about him; almost as though he was putting on an act. He wondered if it had to do with the fact that Somnia was gone, and that he and Peregrine had essentially blamed Ashton for it when he showed up on their borders. Whatever the case, Elwood wasn't one to hold grudges, and though he dearly wished that Somnia would return -- and knew that Ashton felt the same -- he was glad that the hippie was back. It would take some time for him to reestablish himself with the pack, but secretly Elwood had a lot of faith in him.

He flicked an ear, shifting his gaze back to Njal's leg as they waited for Ashton's conclusion.

"As contrary to what many may mind, mud can kill you, pal. Depending on the elements and chemical balances in the slop, you can get poisoning or even just cause injection. "

Canting his head, he pursed his narrow lips, thinking on the matter. This man said his legs were leaking until he applied mud, corking it. He would have to look at that fluid, and determine how active the man's inflammation has traveled, and review how active the immune system was taking its time on the ordeal.
Whew.

"Gotta unscrew the dirty do, Njal. I gotta check out your immune system, and that's by getting a eyeful of the leading bit of your leg. Gonna see the ratio of white blood cells to red, and we can determine the issue of amputation on that diagnosis."

Ashton was using way too many words for Njal to understand (or early morning Java), so he just nodded glumly, his chin making a plopping sound against the wetter grasses. Once his head had sunken back down for the last time, he simply lay there. Traveling back had caused his body to become muddy and gross; he had not muddied it up on purpose, although the thought had crossed his mind. Whatever grime stuck to him now was from the painful trip across the territories. But it didn't matter how the mud got on him, just that it was on him, according to the medic.

He let out a tired sigh as his thoughts rounded back to the more important question: Was his leg going to be alright? "Have at it then," he said suddenly, as if growing impatient for a proper diagnosis, "Before I pass out." Considering his entire ordeal, it was a surprise Njal hadn't fallen in to a deep sleep thus far.

Feel free to powerplay Elwood helping to clean the leg or whatever you need, X!

9/6: Editing in a conclusion, since it appears that Ashton has been removed from the ranks.

Elwood reclined onto his haunches, assuming a sitting position in which he could observe Ashton at work. The medic determined that Njal's leg needed to be cleaned in order for him to give it a full assessment; the patient agreed to it, though he expressed a concern that he might lose consciousness.

He shifted his gaze to Ashton, awaiting the doctor's orders. This would be the first of two instances in which he acted as Ashton's assistant, and his body language conveyed that he was willing to do whatever was asked of him to help. Ashton indicated that Elwood could help clean the leg, so Elwood set to work removing the dirt and grime with his tongue. Once he was able to get a good look at the injury, Ashton determined that Njal wouldn't lose his leg. Rest and medicine would likely help him heal in a few weeks' time.

At that point, Elwood assisted the medic in transporting Njal further into the territory, to a place where he could hopefully get a few hours of sleep and Ashton could put together a treatment plan. Elwood then departed, knowing that Njal was in good hands.