Whitefish River the wires got the best of him

The miles pass in a blur, and the wintry air has chilled and congealed the blood in her fur by the time she forces her limbs to stop moving — just so she can breathe for a moment. The world is bright and blurred, and she can hear her own ragged breathing as if from a distance. The sound is harsh and foreign, though she distantly connects it with the stinging cold in her throat and chest. She blinks rapidly, struggling to focus her vision on something, anything, but the gleam of the snow is painfully bright.
Suddenly the world is spinning and she nearly loses her balance, cursing under her breath as she struggles to keep upright. She grasps desperately for some kind of coherent thought, finding only panicked fragments. It occurs to her that she's hurt — but she doesn't feel hurt. She doesn't feel anything, actually, save a vague sort of ache in her lungs and eyes. That can't be good, she thinks, sinking slowly back onto her haunches as the gravity of the situation dawns on her fully. The hysteria is slowly leaving her, but in its place there's a terrifying, icy calm. The yearling has never been the type to shy from the consequences of her decisions, and she sees clearly now where this leads. A forgettable death by some forgettable river — fitting, perhaps, for the girl who could never hold onto anything of meaning.

The taste of coyote blood was still in his mouth. He thought ripping it to pieces would assuage the burning rage inside his heart at the disappearance of his mate, but he still felt the same. He was glad the little bastard was dead, and it was even better that he had paid for his transgression with his life, but now as he walked from the plateau searching for signs that anyone else had made it out, he still felt like he was going to drown in his own despair. He hadn't even felt the coyote's teeth in his face during his fight, but now that the adrenaline had started to wear off, the deep punctures along his right cheek and under his jaw were starting to throb. 

Kavik had decided to check the river first, hoping that maybe his packmates would think to meet at one of their popular gathering spots. As he neared the water, a familiar scent filled his nose, and relief surged through the former alpha. The relief was short-lived, though, because he soon realized that he also scented blood. He tracked the dark female until he found her sitting near the river. He trotted over to her, immediately seeing that she was pretty badly wounded. Myrren, he said first, his tone anxious. Are you okay? He inspected her injuries more closely and silently cursed himself for not learning at least some first aid basics.

She hardly has time to wallow in her newfound resignation before something interrupts her — a sound of some sort. No — a voice. A wolf? She blinks, turning her head slowly and fighting the urge to vomit. A dark wolf, a man... she knows him, doesn't she? His words register belatedly and she blinks again, a sarcastic, semi-delirious grin spreading over her features. Fan-fucking-tastic, She mumbles, a little slurred, and collapses unceremoniously. Just waiting for death to get here.

He ignored her sarcasm, focusing only on helping her. Well, you're not going to die, he said resolutely. ...as long as you can tell me how to help you. I don't much about healing, he added. All the times he had watched Liri help others, he never thought to pay much attention to what she was actually doing. The memory of his mate caused a flash of sorrow to sear through his chest, but he pushed it aside for now to focus on helping Myrren. He tried to remember the plants he had fetched for Liri that day after Siqsa's failed rank challenge--racked his brain for anything that might bring forth the names of the plants, but it was no use; he couldn't remember, and no amount of time or willing the names into his mind would help.

She can't help the snort that bubbles out of her when he responds. Green, leafy stuff, She informs him, voice still a slurred mumble. Or you could just let me die. I... She yawns. I think that'd be best. Her tone is too casual, as if the meaning of the word die has escaped her somehow. Or maybe she's just too jaded by now to feel the full effects — maybe she'll die as apathetically as she'd lived, with this poor man whose name she can't remember as her only witness.

Kavik looked at her like she was crazy. He would not let her die; that was ridiculous. And green leafy stuff? That didn't really help him at all. Sorry, I'm not letting you die, he replied first. You'll need to be a little more specific. Green leafy things doesn't really give me a lot to go on, he added, trying very hard to keep any frustration from his voice. He knew she was just injured and not in her right mind; getting upset with her wouldn't really help things. He would need some more instruction from her before he could help her, though. He also wondered if he would even be able to find anything she instructed him to find. It was the middle of winter and pretty much everything was taken over by snow. Kavik found it hard to believe that he would find really anything still alive. His only hope would be the herb cache back on the plateau, and he wasn't sure that was even still intact.

It's actually a bit more complicated than green leafy things, but she has no intention of telling him as much. Why don't you figure it out yourself then, Mister Alpha? She leans onto her side, wincing a little at the pressure on her wounds and fixing a slightly haughty stare on the other wolf. The effect is lost somewhat in the dullness of her gaze, and the end result leaves her more akin to a petulant child than anything else. Some part of her knows she's being irrational, stupid even, and as the seconds tick by she considers accepting his help — but then she recalls, hazily, the last time she'd accepted help from a man. And the time before that. And the time before that.
None of them can be trusted.

Kavik drew in a deep breath, steeling himself to try and coax more information from her, knowing fully she wouldn't give it easily. He didn't understand why she was making this so difficult; all he wanted to do was help her, and she was acting like he wanted to poison her or something. Still, he wasn't about to give her what she wanted. No way would he leave her here to die. Myrren, he said, drawing in all the calmness he could muster and putting it into that one word. Please let me help you, he pleaded. I'm not going to leave you here or let you die, no matter how difficult you make things. He would go get one of everything from the cache on the plateau if he had to. Kavik would bring it all back here somehow and just start making her eat things and applying things to her wounds. She had no idea how persistent he could be.

Fire flashes behind her eyes when he says her 'name', but she says nothing in response. She stares at him for several more moments, nails curling into the ground. Something in his gaze makes her want to trust him, and she hates it. A sigh slips from her and she looks away, head dropping between her paws. S'winter right now anyway, She mumbles, sucking in a sharp breath as the frigid wind agitates her wounds. No green stuff. Which means you lose, Mister Alpha.

He didn't miss her sharp inhale, and concern crossed his face in response. You're in pain. Tell me what you need, and I'll go back to the plateau to Li-- he stumbled over the name of his lost mate before swallowing and continuing, --to Liri's cache. Maybe it's still viable. What would the savages have wanted with a bunch of plants? Maybe he would get lucky for once and there would still be herbs left that could help the obstinate woman. I won't have to leave you alone here for very long; I know exactly where the cache is. He had retrieved things for Liri before, so he knew exactly where to go--now he just needed her to cooperate and tell him what to look for.

She tries to focus on what he's saying, swallowing her irritation with his insistence for the moment. A cache. She hadn't even considered that one might exist at the Plateau, though it makes sense. Moss, She murmurs after several moments, struggling to recall what relatively little she knows of healing herbs. Poppy seeds — they're tiny and black. And... fuck. Marigold, maybe? You know what that looks like, right? Each word is an effort now; she suddenly feels incredibly lethargic, and she knows it won't be long before she needs rest. Her body has been pushed well beyond its limits, and now it calls desperately for a break.

Finally she complied and gave him something to go get for her. I know marigold, he replied first. That was one of the plants he had fetched for Liri to treat Siqsa's wounds. He hadn't been able to recall the name from his own memory, but now that she said it, he knew with complete certainty what she was talking about. Okay, poppy seeds, moss, and marigold, Kavik repeated. He looked over her form worriedly before adding, I'll have to go back to the plateau. I shouldn't be gone too long. He knew the path well and would push his muscles as hard as he could to sprint there and back. Please don't go anywhere, okay? he pleaded, unsure if it would piss her off but needing to say it.

Without another word, he turned and sprinted back to the plateau, slowing only slightly once moving between the trees so that he could keep any eye out for any more of those damn coyotes. He skidded to a halt in front of the door, trying to think past the last time he had been here. The plateau was quiet and eerie now. He only speculated before, but now he was positive this place was cursed. He couldn't wait to be done here so he could take his final leave and never come back. A place that once filled him with hope and pride now only inspired dread and despair within the former alpha. He urged himself to move and ignore the tendrils of anguish pushing him to give in and collapse under the weight of depression, the thought of Myrren alone and hurting by the river his main driving force to keep moving and not get lost in all the heaviness that came with this place. He ran to Liri's cache and released a sigh of relief to see that it was untouched. Using his large paws, he moved the rocks out of the way and began studying the plants inside. Immediately, he saw the moss; that was easy to pick out, and he pulled out a mouthful of it and set it by his feet. He rooted around in the plants a little more until he found the marigod, pulling out some of that and placing it next to moss already set aside. He didn't see any black seeds though. Kavik searched through the herbs, growing frustrated at the time he was wasting before, by complete accident, he knocked a weird pod with his nose, causing little black seeds to fall out where it had opened. He thought it had to be the right plant, and not wanting to spend anymore time deliberating, he pulled a different, intact pod from the pile of plants and set in his pile to take with him. He was about to pick up his herbs and go, but he paused, glancing at the open cache. He closed his eyes against the painful tightening in his heart. He couldn't just leave all of Liri's hard work in such a way--open and rummaged through, plus what if he or someone else needed it later? Swallowing the familiar lump of despair that seemed to keep finding its way into his throat, he straightened the plants like his mate had liked them and carefully replaced the rocks, leaving the cache exactly how he found it. With one sorrowful glance around the atrium, he picked up his plants and sprinted back across the plateau never looking back once.

He pushed his muscles hard as he flew across the grasslands and back towards the river where he had left the stubborn woman. He held the plants as gently as he could without letting them fall from his mouth with the wind that was whipping past his face. As he neared where he had left Myrren, he prayed she was still there and hadn't decided to be extra difficult and wander off.

She rolls her eyes a little at his parting words, offering no response — but she stays where she is. An eternity seems to pass in his absence; she has only the river and the frigid winter wind for company, and the slowly-intensifying ache in her neck. Occasionally her wounds sting and she shifts uncomfortably, wincing when the movement inevitably agitates her further. Overall, the wait is miserable.
His return brings more relief than she might have anticipated, to her irritation. Her ears fold back against her skull briefly at the sight of him, and she glances away with a slightly sour expression. There is no doubt in her mind that he possesses some ulterior motive, and she wishes desperately to call him out, entirely disinterested in whatever he has planned — but she bites her tongue for now. Kavik's absence had brought with it an important realization, though perhaps a bit belated: she is not ready to die. Not yet. And if this is her only chance at survival, she can go along with it for awhile. She'll just have to stay alert.

He was relieved to see Myrren in the same spot he had left her. Still reeling from the emotional return to the plateau, he silently placed his collection of plants near her front paws. He rested his tried, emerald gaze on the dark woman before speaking. I'll need some instruction on how to use these things, he stated, motioning with his nose to the plants. He prayed she wasn't difficult about this as well. The sooner he could help treat her wounds, the sooner she could rest, and then they could move into the mountains to search for anyone else. He was holding on to the hope that he would still find Liri somewhere, but he would be just as happy to find any of his packmates at this point. The longer he went without seeing that they were all safe, the more worried the former alpha became.