Spotted Eagle Mountain little voice

Open to any combination of @Shardul, @Shikoba, @Spring and @Harlyn~ :)

It was cold today. The fallen king had decided not to think. When he reached out for the tendrils of his thoughts, all he found was blood-red smoke, and it slipped through his claws. The boy formerly known as Ayishik Zonnetje looked like he'd never stand again, so weak and defeated was his body. It was a beautiful bright afternoon, and the little wolfdog lay in the entrance to his captor's den. Shardul himself was nearby, doing what he did, being Shardul, and the wolfdog had long given up all efforts to outthink the torment. He had already accepted it as part of his new life — and he knew it all to be meaningless. It was cold today. And there were no thoughts left to have.

Spring had gone out on another journey in attempts to find Ishi once more.  She had left on the previous morning (April 13th) and had not slept since.  Spring was now running towards the opposite direction of where she had met that cursed wolf Betelgeuse on her previous scout out to try to find Ishi.  Through her travels in attempts to pursue her gut nervous feeling took her on a route that went through Phoenix Maplewood (of course), Witch’s Marsh, Duck Lake, Fox’s Glade, Wapun Meadow, Shadow Mountain, Sleepy Fox Hollow and then finally Spotted Eagle Mountain.  Through all of the territories that she passed, besides Spotted Eagle Mountain, there was absolutely no sign of Ishi, which disappointed her and falter her levels of hope.  Maybe this all was just some hopeless, pointless scout out.  Yet for some reason she kept going.  Then she froze in place when she reached Spotted Eagle Mountain.  Her heart leaped, her mouth hug agape, her eyes bulged and she stared on in heartbreak and shock.  The scents that were floating in the air were that of Ishi, Cougar and blood.  Her worst nightmare was coming to life.

She ran in the direction of the scent, not pausing for a moment.  She had to reach the scene, she just had too!  Pushing her speed way over the limit, Spring pelted towards the end of the scent trail.  It finally led her to a den and Ishi at the mouth of it.  Oh, it just hurt her heart to see her friend.  Seemed to squeeze the life out of it, but she knew what she had to do, so she carefully, quietly and softly padded forward.  Her eyes frantically dashed to and fro searching for the attacker, the Cougar.  As she finally reached the figure of her bloody and broken friend, Spring heart seemed to catch in her throat.  “Ishi.  I’m here.  It’s Spring.”  She whispered.  Then leaned down to grab his scruff.  They had to get out of here now, before @Shardul came, the Cougar.  She had to get Ishi back to his pack.  To safety.

Such was the nothingness in his mind, it felt almost like a perpetual hum. He heard the humming over the gentle treads of a dear friend, and her distantly familiar voice. The boy blinked up at her with huge empty gold eyes. He didn't say anything because he couldn't. And while he recognised her name — Spring, the hint of a warmth long-gone — he couldn't recognise the other name. Ishi.

Soft and starved, the little youth was pulled gently to his paws by the stronger wolf. Still and traumatised, he made no move to do anything but would do as she directed. But his legs were as weak as snow, and he trembled lightly.

Just curious as to what Ishi’s current wounds are.  Do you think you could tell me?  If so that’d be great.  :)

As she carefully slide Ishi into her jaws, after grabbing him by his scruff she began to run, although it was a lopsided awkward run due to the fact that she was carrying a full grown wolf.  Lucky he was smaller than her, which really helped a ton.  Although a deeper darker sensation told her to go back and maul the cougar to death, Spring didn’t.  If Ishi hadn’t been in trouble at the moment maybe she would have... but with her friend in this state she knew that was basically impossible to do that without Ishi getting hurt in the process.  Yet she knew the Cougar’s scent now, she didn’t think she would or could ever forget it.  One day she would return.  Return for revenge.

As she ran at a full fledged desperate but awkward sprint, her eyes falling onto Ishi’s frame.  He felt so... delicate at this moment, like if she made one wrong move he would break, shatter into a million pieces.  If Ishi died because of this, she didn’t think that she would ever forgive herself.  For now though she wanted to figure out what his wounds were, although she wouldn’t be able to do anything thorough as much as she wanted to, she had to get Ishi back to Lost Creek Hollow fast.  Once she was out of this accursed mountain though she would do a quick treatment for his wounds though.  Just to do her best to keep him alive until they got to Lost Creek Hollow.

His wounds are mainly psychological, with no highly-visible injuries~ But he's extremely battered and bruised, fractured here and there, undernourished and exhausted to the point of being near death's door. Most superficial injuries are not very visible beneath his fur.
@Shikoba/@Harlyn/@Mordecai (and @Shardul ;~;), please feel free to jump in any time if you fancy!

The boy whined and whimpered in his friend's grasp, too weak to do anything but let himself be dragged along, his white paws scrambling every now and again. His fur was lank and had thinned due to stress, and every inch of him hurt so much that he could barely feel any of it.

He was in a dreamlike state, unable to believe that this might finally be his freedom from the... from the... the cougar. The evil creature. Triggered by the friend bringing him home, a distant echo forced itself to be heard among the silence in his skull:

"Why would you want to see a cougar, Ishi?  Those things would eat you up without any hesitation, I bet. Cougars sometimes kill for the excitement of the hunt. Then just abandon the body, to bleed out and cripple. They are cruel animals. Are you sure you want to place your faith in a cougar of all things? I mean truthfully I just want you to be safe... a cougar could maim you if it had the chance... that would be horrible..."

the silver cat had ranged after a lame elk stag, following on the ground and through the thicker branches of overhanging trees. the animal sensed his skulking and pressed on, but he saw the loll of its tongue, the heave of its sides -- he knew that it would only be some time before it collapsed from exhaustion. and so he kept after it, until a timely opening in its defenses let the hard flash of his paw knock it dazed, and upon the heels of this blow came the fatal pierce of his long teeth.

he had left the tortured little soul in the den -- shardul was confident that he would not stray -- and so he ate at his leisure, dragging what he could of the carcass up onto a rock outcropping and carrying a haunch home on which to gorge himself.

the scent of wolves came to him as he neared his encampment -- shardul snarled around his burden and dropped it. yellow eyes burned with anger as he watched a she-wolf haul-drag his captive down the rocks, and a scream built within him until it splintered from his jaws and he leapt into a run, lunging after the pair.

Spring kept going, still keeping Ishi locked firmly in her jaws by his scruff.  Running and running, faster and faster.  She almost stopped paralyzed in fear as she heard the Cougar quickly approaching from behind them, but she kept going.  She had to save Ishi, just had to.  Stealing a quick glance over her shoulder she caught sight of the terrible beast, head then shipping back forward.  The Cougar was strange, instead of the normal shades of brown including cream, tan and brown... or of course the occasional albino or melanism, this Cougar was silvery grey... very strange.  She cleared her thoughts of the Cougar’s coloring.  That did not matter right now, she had to get her and Ishi to safety and fast...

Spring pushed herself harder and faster.  She had to escape.  Was there anyway that she could delay the Cougar?  An idea suddenly came to mind.  It would be a semi hard task, but she knew that there was a possibility that this could delay the Cougar and very well save her and Ishi’s lives.  Her plan was simple.  She could see a tall, burnt, dead, yet still standing tree in the distance.  She headed straight toward it.  Her plan was at last moment to veer out of it’s path.  If all went through correctly she and Ishi could bargain for some more time while the Cougar had some fun face planting into a tree.  Although many Cougars were very agile as an argument and flaw to her plan, but no matter.  It was still worth a shot.  If this didn’t work she could always come up with another plan... right?

With Spring's very physical encouragement, the youth tried to find his own paws, but it was difficult — he was exhausted and broken, and his would-be saviour was so much fitter and faster than him in his current state. So he left his fate entirely to her, and in doing so was perhaps easier to carry. She had to half-drag him too, but he was so soft and light it was more his larger-than-puppy size that caused the awkwardness. He was but a little accessory, something to drag, and had exactly the set of thoughts you'd expect from an accessory: no thoughts at all. Until he heard it...

A horrifying, blood-curdling snarl. It was Shardul, and the broken boy closed his eyes tight. Oh god oh god oh god oh please... he hoped he would die this time. The life the cougar had forced him to lead had not been a life at all. Death, then, was a luxury he yearned for, and freedom was not yet something he considered.

he pounded after the two with a speed uncommon for his bulk, born of desperation and vengfulness. when the woman veered aside, taking with her shardul's coveted prize, he too turned sharply, but his alacrity was rather affected -- one silver shoulder struck the tree, and pain reverberated along the flesh there with the stab of a new bruise.

forced to slow for the moment, shardul watched the wolven pair retreat -- they would not escape him. leaping down the mountainside was no longer what he wished; the cat leapt for a ledge above him, wincing minutely, and began a quick, winding trek downward in an alternating line, following the natural descent of the outcroppings.

Spring ran faster.  Her heart soared though to hear the sound of pawsteps momentarily slow, but as they soon speed back up the sound fueled much adrenaline which only made her push herself even faster even with the weight of Ishi.  She had gone into survival mode with only one thing on her mind: survive.  There was no time to slow down even the slightest, if she wanted to escape it would have to be fast, so she scoured her mind for more plans and tricks.

Spring considered doing the tree swerve again, but she was sure that the Cougar had now picked up on that, so she didn’t.  Instead she thought up other things that she could do, although none seemed to strike her as effective.  She knew her thought time was almost up, even though she had only been thinking for about five seconds, so much could happen in a matter of seconds.  She had to think of something soon... that didn’t get her and Ishi killed.

Had the boy been healthy of mind right now, he would have done anything in his power to outwit the cougar, if such a thing were possible. Spring had always been cleverer than the young Scout, but he did have some smarts... or used to, anyway. Who knew if his mind would ever return to the way it had been before the cat had sunk his claws into it?

Blurred and scuffed, the boy opened his golden eyes to the landscape ahead. He could feel Spring's fear — but, more than that, her determination. And that was when he saw it, revealed by the trees — up ahead and down below, a great river that swerved from the lake to the west. As the mountain sloped, so too did the river. If they threw themselves down the slope right now, instead of trying to traverse across it, they — and a multitude of scree — could fall into the river and take their chances with the rapids instead of the demon...

using what we discussed, @Spring!

shardul struck at the pair out of desperation, not knowing if he would meet flesh, but luck was with him. his claws glanced along the woman's side, and he shrieked in triumph. perhaps it would be enough to slow the pair; shardul used the last reserves of his speed and dropped down onto a ledge beneath the fleeing wolves -- he spoke not, nor did he pause, for the river was there and he did not wish to fall.

madness sparked hotly in his eyes; shardul bared his fangs and slashed at the woman's face. in the next moment, he lost his footing upon the shale and slipped some inches, but the crazed shrieking of his bloodlust buoyed him.

he leapt then upon the unsteady surface for the pale wolf, his prize. his treasure -- the culmination of all shardul had come to be.

Pain.  Claws slashed through her sides in face.  She closed her eyes tight and luckily the slash missed her right eye by just only a few centimeters.  She had never been in so much pain in her whole life and it took everything in her not to scream or howl or Yelp, to let the pain out, she couldn't do this because if she did she could potentially drop Ishi.  It felt like venom though the slashes were the Cougar's class had once been, as blood trickled from her wounds.  Spring knew what she had to do just then.  She had to jump and she had to jump into the river, just hopefully not kill herself in the process...

She sprang then, Ishi secured tightly in her jaws.  It was a leap of faith as she aimed for that river.  It was almost magical in a way.  They had escaped the Cougar... unless he went down with them, then she didn't know what she would do.  Yet if he didn't, all she and Ishi would have to do was face the daring rapids.  That wouldn't be too hard... right?  Just then she fell into the river and her body was painfully swished away with the current, all the while Spring fought to swim for land and did her best to keep Ishi's head above the surface, although her head kept dipping.  Hopefully they both lived through this and that accursed Cougar did not follow.

Flashes of red and black and cougar-silver dominated his vision, but this visceral experience wasn't the same as what he'd been through over the past weeks. Yes this was painful and horrifying, but it was different to what Shardul had done to him. Very different. Spring was here. And so he felt that deep desperation that came when freedom was in sight, and with the desperation came motivation — and with that came a new strength in his soft white paws. So when Spring jumped, the boy did too — they jumped together, great and desperate, into fate, into future, into the devouring river below.

last post for me! ty guys!

they leapt.

damn them!

shardul checked his lunge too late; he tumbled after them down the hill of sliding slate into the waters, and screamed with anger as the cold soaked through the silk pelt of his hips -- he heaved himself from the river and whirled to watch the wolves' heads break the surface, bobbing downstream. away from him. shardul shook; he was beside himself with rage, and shrieked again, tail lashing.

but his anger was impotent -- with each passing moment they drew farther away from them, but his ire broke upon the shores of their ears with screams and with the howling wail that was the cougars' lot, until at last he grew hoarse and retreated in shame.

Freedom.  Spring heard the sounds of the Cougar behind, but no sound of the big cat swimming.  If Spring hadn’t been hurting so much, been stuck in a river, and if Ishi wasn’t hurt so bad she may have let out a howl of triumph, but there was no triumph yet.  The two wolves were still in a deadly situation.  Suddenly the sight of a flatter surface slopping into the water caught her eyes.  She started swimming towards it, holding Ishi by the scruff, incase all this swimming was just too much for him in his state, which it probably was.

Twigs, branches and rocks all scrapped at her legs.  Spring ignored them only one thing on her mind.  Land.  She was really close now.  Oh so very close.  She pushed herself harder, she had to make it!  Before her time was up.  She did.  It felt magical too.  Suddenly her paws were touching the flat stone, she leapt up onto it now, holding a much strong grip, as she heaved herself atop.  She then tried to heave Ishi up with her, to help him out.  She was determined they would both make it out of this okay and alive.  They had to.  Spring wouldn’t let some river stop them.

Fine to fade here if it's okay with you, Emma~ ty both very much for the thread!

And now, with their desperation and determination, there was a blackness and whiteness and dark green-grey. For they had plunged themselves away from the cougar and into the water. They thrashed and struggled, swam and gasped, and after what felt like almost an hour of pain they somehow made it to the surface.

As he looked at Spring, a friend he loved and his ultimate saviour, the boy found a moment of clarity and finally found his voice. It was sweet and high and soft like the voice of Ishi, but it lacked every scrap of the confidence and joy he'd once had. You were right, he whispered. Spring had always warned him about cougars, but he hadn't listened. Now he'd paid the price for that and for his terrifying ambitions.

And this was all Shardul's latest victim would say for the entire journey.