Moonspear end of days

It had been too long since Fox had last seen her daughter. Considering Wildfire was only a short jaunt away, there was still the possibility of visiting her, and Fox intended to do just that. So she kissed her four little boys goodbye, gave Peregrine an extra long kiss (complete with suggestive whisperings of what they would do when she returned) and went on her merry way.

The route wasn't particularly difficult. She headed around Bramblepoint and passed between it and the mountain to the west. It took her roughly half a day, but she made it in record time with nobody/nothing to slow her down. She hadn't noticed the slowly growing hum that had started about halfway into her journey, nor the uptick in the amount of bugs that sprang up whenever she took another step. But by the time she was standing on Moonspear's doorstep, the insects were all around her and the noise was deafening. Even as she howled a greeting, she was not sure anybody would be able to hear her.

When the first bugs had started buzzing around Floki's head, he hadn't thought anything of it. He had warded them off with twitches of his ears and flicks of his tail, assuming that they were just annoyances brought on by the warmer weather. But as the day wore on and the insects became more and more prominent, he started to get weirded out. It was hard to move around without stepping on or being otherwise assaulted by locusts, and it was even hard to hear anything beyond their persistent clacking.

In fact, he almost couldn't make out the sound of a howl from the borders. He gave his head a shake and grimaced when an insect unceremoniously fell out of his ear canal, then began to make his way down the mountainside. He hoped that there would be fewer pests when he reached flat ground.

He was so distracted that he didn't even lay eyes on the wolf waiting for him until he was all too close. When he did glance up, he stopped in his tracks and his heart plummeted into his stomach. Wildfire? With wide eyes, the yearling stared for a long moment, his nose working furiously. He quickly deduced that it was not his ex-girlfriend, but the similarities were uncanny...and he gulped when he realized that this female was probably related to her.

"Uh, hi," he called out over the din, forcing his legs to carrying him awkwardly forward.

Fox was no naturalist, but she was starting to think she didn't need to be one to realize that something was very, very strange about these bugs. In fact, she was so distracted by the swarm, and the way they were practically choking the life out of her, that she barely registered the other wolf coming toward her. Unable to hear his greeting, she squinted at him, then yelled at the top of her lungs.

"I'm here to see Wildfire!" A pause, in which a locust flew right into her eye and she yelped out in pain. "The fuck!"

He shuffled closer as the swarm seemed to descend on them, making it extremely difficult to hear what the she-wolf said. Despite the commotion, Wildfire's name rang in his ears, clear as day, and he felt his blood run cold. What in the world was he supposed to tell her? He had no clue where Wildfire was.

A bug chose that inopportune moment to smack the petite female in the face and Floki winced. "Are you okay?" he bellowed, then his ears fell back as he addressed her statement. "Wildfire's not here," he said, his voice dropping in volume as he averted his eyes.

Fox blinked, her vision blurry in the eye that had been hit. Whatever words the stranger was saying didn't compute, and she pawed at her eye repeatedly. That, of course, only rubbed dirt on it from the ground. Only a moment later, Fox was groaning on the ground, continuing to try and wipe away the pain with her paws. "Fuck fuck fuck!" she growled, lips peeling back in a snarl.

This was no quick hit and run by the locust. It had been a full-on kamikaze attack.

Weirdly enough, Floki was in luck, at least for the time being. The reddish she-wolf completely forgot about Wildfire, disregarding Floki's response as she suddenly fell to the ground. Apparently, she had been struck in the eye much harder than it had appeared. Floki's eyes widened, and then he ducked his head and squinted, trying to avoid the same fate.

He had absolutely no clue what to do to help her -- he couldn't exactly invite her into Moonspear to seek medical attention from his mother, but he couldn't leave her out here to be attacked by the locusts...especially if she was related to Wildfire. The only thing he could think of was to find a temporary shelter. The insects seemed to swarming the trees and bushes, so he looked around wildly until his gaze fell on a crevice in the mountain range just beyond Moonspear's borders.

"Over here," he called, gesturing for her to follow him -- he had no idea if she would, but even if she didn't, he was going to get out of the line of fire. With his chin tucked towards his chest, he trotted briskly towards the small opening, sidestepping to avoid a particularly low-slung group of locusts.

"Fuckity fuck fuck FUCK!" Fox continued, feeling a bit like somebody was repeatedly stabbing her in the face. She could barely hear over the buzzing of the bugs, let alone her own wailing, moaning, and complaining. The distinct smell of blood—her blood—began to make its way toward her nose, and suddenly Fox realized that what was just a bug in her eye was a little bit more severe than that.

"Oh fuck," she said, horror washing over her face (along with the rivulets of blood on the right). She had no choice but to follow the stranger, something that made her insides scream "NO!" a thousand times over. Her left eye was squinting just enough so she could keep track of the other's figure, while the right was shut as tight as she could make it. A glance downward revealed that her front right paw was covered in blood, too.

The only thing Fox wanted right now was to be back at home with Peregrine and her children.

Floki could only be sure that the female was behind him by the string of muffled curse words that seemed to follow him. He didn't stop to turn around and check on her, instead focusing on getting to their destination without sustaining any more damage. The locusts bounced harmlessly off his haunches and shoulders, causing him to quicken his pace.

Soon enough, he slipped into the shallow cavern. It was just broad enough for the two wolves to enter comfortably without being on top of each other. Once inside, he pivoted, his mouth ajar as he prepared to address the stranger. But when he got a good look at her face, the only sound that he could make was a strangled squeak. Her right cheek was bathed in blood, seeping from the tightly closed eyelid.

"Holy shit," he exclaimed. He was no Thistle Cloud, and he had no idea where she was -- what the fuck was he supposed to do?! "Lay down," he instructed, his voice quavering.

Fox squeezed her way in after the stranger, the one who apparently knew her daughter (who was all but forgotten at this point), and he ordered her to lay down. This, of course, ruffled her feathers. "Ain't no punk gonna tell me what to—" she groaned, another wave of pulsing pain rippling through her eyes. Her legs gave out from underneath her, and she was crumpled on the floor before she had a chance to resist.

A sudden wave of something Fox hadn't felt before crashed through her. It was a sense of mortality. Even though she'd been sliced by cougars, picked fights with whole packs, and fallen down mountains, she'd never been afraid of dying. The thought of never seeing Peregrine, Wildfire, Raven, Nightjar, Ferret, Whip, Peter, or Gannet tore her innards to shreds. Her chest tightened, and Fox clenched her jaw. "You have to get me home."

"Okay, okay!" was Floki's hasty reply to the injured female's vehemence. He took a step back, not wanting to crowd her in the small space. His gaze roved over her bloodied face and he chewed on his lower lip, trying desperately to think of a plan.

Nothing came to the forefront of his mind, and he was starting to feel panicky, when the Wildfire-lookalike suddenly made a request. "You have to get me home," she insisted, and Floki immediately clung to that idea. He was of no use to here here, in this cave -- but he could help her get back to her family.

He nodded. "I can do that. Do you live -- are you from Redhawk Caldera?" he asked, wincing -- he was thankful that she probably couldn't see his expression.

"Where the fuck else would I be from?" she seethed, ready to rip his stupid head off right this instance. "Where is Wildfire? Why don't you just go get her, and she can take me home," Fox replied, stating what seemed like a pretty damn solid plan. This clueless idiot clearly wasn't capable of doing much of anything, and Fox's opinion of him only dropped further the longer they were stuck in this godforsaken cave while her eye oozed out. Wildfire probably knew the way better than either this guy or Fox. Maybe, by the time he went and brought her back, this freakish bug storm would have passed and their trek back wouldn't be so bad.

This wolf's similarities to Wildfire seemed to end with her appearance. Her tongue was sharp, lashing at Floki despite his efforts to help her. He wasn't quite sure how to feel about it -- he half wanted to just leave her there. What were the odds that she would have assisted him had the tables been turned? Slim to none, just based on the fact that Wildfire herself had abandoned him and the rest of his pack. Perhaps it ran in the family.

But Floki gritted his teeth despite his bitter thoughts. "She's not here," he said, planning to leave it at that -- but before he could stop himself, he added, "She left -- she doesn't live at Moonspear anymore. I don't know where she is." He frowned at the fox-like female, then said, "Do you want my help or not?"

Well, that wasn't the answer Fox had expected. Or wanted. "The fuck?" Fox sputtered, momentarily relieved of the pain by sheer astonishment. Wildfire hadn't come to tell her she was leaving. Nor had her daughter made it seem like anything was wrong with Moonspear, when she'd been living there. None of it added up, and Fox was now suspicious of this guy. She wasn't entirely sure who he was, what his relation was to Wildfire, or what he would actually end up doing to a wolf who'd just had their eye gouged.

"I'll wait until the storm passes," she huffed begrudgingly. If she wasn't dead yet from her weird eye bug injury, maybe she wouldn't die from it. Even if he'd brought a medic to her, Fox would be wary of accepting treatment from somebody she didn't know damn well. Keeping an eye (OH HO HO) on the stranger, she let her chin settle on her front paws and gazed outside.

Her response wasn't unexpected. Floki had to stop himself from rolling his eyes; instead, he gave his shoulders a shrug. Other than her exclamation, she didn't press for any further information about Wildfire, so he didn't offer it freely. He was prepared to march right back out into the swarm of insects and bat them out of the way so that she could make her way home -- but she had another idea entirely.

He stared at her as she declared that she would wait until the coast was clear before heading home. "The fuck?" Floki thought. He couldn't deny that he was disappointed; he had hoped to escort her back to Redhawk Caldera, pass her off into the paws of her family with as little interaction as possible, and then hightail it back to Moonspear. But now he had to wait it out with her?

The Beta huffed out a sigh and lowered himself stiffly to his haunches.

Thanks for helping me renew my membership for the Whump!Club. ;D

They remained in awkward silence (aside from the occasional "fuck!" when Fox accidentally blinked her right eye too hard... or touched it against anything) for the remainder of the day and into the next morning. When the consistent drone died down to a more manageable low hum, Fox said nothing to the stranger, picked herself up, and marched out. Her eye still hurt like a fucking bitch, but she was no stranger to pain.

She had to get home.