Ankyra Sound pray a ray of light appears

Happening directly after this

When he'd gotten himself and the bloodied @Caiaphas closer to the edge of Rusalka, he paused long enough to call for @Erzulie (not knowing that she was not at home), and then began the tedious descent down the steep hill leading to the beachfront proper; a few times Firefly thought he was going to drop the crone's body and have to explain why the hell her brains were all over the stonescape, which prompted him to be a little bit more cautious. The scent of blood was thick in the air; he was drenched in it, the fluids leaking from the dethroned queen and slathering him with an unnerving warmth. The stronger that scent got, the worse he felt. The more panicked. The more frenzied.

But he made it — and slipped her off his shoulders in to the sand, at which point he called with a more furious urgency for @Rosalyn, @Illidan, everyone he could think of — someone had to do something, and Firefly wasn't equipped for any of this. Later, after working through some of the stress of this entire experience, he would have to do something about that ineptitude — learn something useful from Erzulie maybe, but, something had to change. Five minutes in to being the leader of these people and one was already bleeding out. What the fuck.

The call came first for Erzulie, who Rosalyn knew wasn't home, as she was who the woman had been seeking as well.  It was fortunate because she was already on her way when the frantic call for her own presence came, and she picked up her pace to an awkward run.  Damnit.  Moving was already harder.

Her eyes took in the scene in an instant and steeled as she saw the blood soaking them both.  What happened?  It was the obvious question and the most immediate out of her mouth - anything else could wait for an explanation.  She was no healer, and Erzulie wasn't here.  Unless someone showed up who knew something, best they could do was hope neither of them were in danger of dying.

AND THEN APPEARED THE RAY OF LIGHT.

Jk. Honestly? Her initial instinct was to bail right then and there. The call that rose sounded panicked and strained and things like that usually meant bad news. Yami didn’t like bad news. Bad news was hard and she preferred easy. Still, after a minute or so of indecision, she found herself swayed by curiosity and concern, and down to the beach she went. 

She regretted it almost immediately.

Rosalyn apparently had reached them first and for once, Yami was glad for her presence. This was not something she was equipped to deal with on her own. She grimaced anxiously at the blood and he oozing wounds and crept up to linger near Rosalyn’s haunch, peering at the pair with a mix of disgust and fear. She looked at the newly crowned alpha as though expecting instruction, even though she had no notion whatsoever of the woman’s ability to cope with having two dying wolves lying at her paws. All Yami knew was she was the alpha, and shit rolls uphill.

He drops the woman to the dirt and is left breathing heavily for a moment as Rosalyn approaches and speaks; he reacts with the baring of teeth, an expression of directionless rage that he stows in lieu of the underlying panic he is feeling. Firefly counters without missing a beat, Put pressure on her throat -- where is Erzulie? I need -- she needs to get here, I can only do so much, even as he commands someone to act, he is moving in to apply pressure where it needs to be.

The blood is starting to cool and cake, but hasn't ebbed much. He recalls all that he learned from Willow and Nettle; it is difficult to focus with the unfolding chaos. We ran in to someone from Drageda, she -- fuck, he needed to breathe, thought it was worth it to target him. They fought. We need to stop the bleeding --

When he finally noticed Yami he called to her, Go down to the beach, to where the grasses grow long, and find some fresh shoots. Its -- alfalfa grass, um -- it can help the blood coagulate. It was how Willow saved him all those weeks ago.

Her own hackles rose in response to his show of teeth.  It may not have been directed at her, but it felt pointed, and she wasn't in the panic he was.  Especially when she heard why it was Caiaphas was as she was.

Her ears flattened back and she stared at where Firefly was now applying pressure.  Her immediate thought was ice cold - then let her die the death she clearly wanted - but she held her tongue for a second.  Breathe.

If she'd had any doubts on Firefly replacing command, they disappeared in an instant.  She'd thought that Caiaphas was of the same mind, and they'd had a conversation that had even confirmed it.  But it turns out she was as hungry for conflict as the rest of them, willing to put desire for revenge over anything else.

I don't know where she is, Rosalyn responded, her voice quiet but taught as a wire.  But if they come seeking blood, I'll toss her to them myself.  There was no sympathy in her single blazing eye as she raised it to Firefly's own, and her posture lifted as well.  If she was to lead here, to raise a fucking family here, then she'd do it on her terms.  And her terms had no space for this.

Yami felt her chest clench as she listened to Firefly's retelling of what had happened. Caiaphas attacked someone? The word Drageda brought the memory of her acceptance back. She'd been asked if that word had meant anything to her, and it hadn't. It still didn't, in fact, which was why she found herself totally lost over something Rosalyn shortly made clear that she understood.

Her eyes widened over the declaration, but she was given no time to dwell on it before Firefly barked a command at her. She tried to keep the anxiety off of her face as she took in the instructions, not wanting to make it seem as though she was uncertain of her ability to not fuck this up, even though she was feeling rather uncertain of her ability to not fuck this up. She nodded and turned, darting away from the two of them up the beach to find... to find... FUCK.

Grass. That's it. Kay brb.

Yami launched away from them and as she did so, Firefly fixed his attention upon Rosalyn as best he could. Her posturing only made him feel more pissed off, but he didn't have time to battle with her on this; they were leading together and to some degree, that meant he had to step back and let things unfold however they were going to. He kept pressure on the wound and hoped that the fleet-footed girl returned swiftly with what he'd called for, and pointedly addressed his co-alpha by declaring, Fine, whatever. But she isn't dying here if we can stop it.

pls skip me but i could squeeze one tiny post in<3

caiaphas was only dimly aware of the time that passed from when she watched vercingetorix's form fade to red, to when she was carefully laid in ankyran soil. she labored to breathe, each breath haggard and guttural.

the wound on her neck had been reopened, and it was from here that blood stemmed in rose-petal red, furious as it swept down her pelt. the knitted fibers of flesh so painstakingly healed had been struck wide open, and the cut glittered with a raw sheen. her throat and shoulder bore proud wounds much less severe, but no less alarming in appearance.

her loss of blood caused a faintness to her acuity she was not accustomed to. thickly, she mumbled something indecipherable into the sand. the forms of firefly and rosalyn swam before her; somewhere in the murkiness of her vision, yami lingered.

she rose her head suddenly from the ground, a long wheezing cackle pressing from her bloodied lips. a spate of bloody phlegm dribbled between her teeth, tucking under her chin. "you-- you... should have seen the other guy." for a brief moment in time, a semblance of consciousness brimmed in her stark yellow eyes as she focused on rosalyn -- before it once more clouded.

"he's ffucked." the siren's head and shoulders slumped abruptly. she blinked in confusion as her paws rose into view. she couldn't steady, couldn't stabilize -- her muzzle bobbed, and a delirious and gibbing giggle spilled from her lips as the sand darkened around her.

He didn't seem interested, and she paid no attention to Yami, who disappeared.  Pregnancy and hormones were running wild, and Firefly was essentially asking her to care about the driver who had just run she and her newborn baby off the road before careening into a tree.  Could she do that right now?

No, no she couldn't.

And of course, Caiaphas chose that moment to slur a phrase, one that sent her bristling all over again.  Fuck this bitch, she'd kill her herself.

She needed to step away, before she did something they'd all regret.  I'll see what Erzulie has, she snapped, spinning and sprinting back towards the den she knew the healer kept.  She could identify a few things that the woman had used on her in the past, and she'd bring whatever was useful.  

Likely best if she didnt apply the pressure right now.  She was as likely to throttle Caiaphas as she was to save her.

When the black face lifted from the soil Firefly half expected a death wrattle, and mentally demanded that she settle the fuck back down; the red spittle flew from the woman's lips as she slurred at them, then plonked back down. Fuck.

Rosalyn vanished soon after that, leaving the man alone with the dying body and he tried to contain his instinct to flip out. He had to stay calm and be present in the moment, not let his panic cause Caiaphas to die when he could help -- but that was a lot of pressure.

He tried to clean the wound. Blood warmed his lips, flushed his teeth red, but it didn't matter what he tried, it wouldn't stop. He reapplied pressure and shut his eyes - and when they opened again, Rosalyn was hurrying back to help. Firefly recognized a few things she carried but not all of it. Fuck he wished Willow was here--

jumping in real quick as a cameo, feel free to skip :)

 

He smells war on the rise. The forboding metallic taste of blood lurks upon his tastebuds -- though he is not inherently superstitious, he believes that signs of impending events appear on occasion to favour his chances of survival. Following the scent of fresh ichor that he would soon learn dripped from the throat of the ex-alpha, he arrives only in time to hear the present usurper utter the name of the entity whom he could not shake from his past nor future. Drageda. A heavy snarl releases from his chest, indicating his agitated presence before the already-distressing scene as it unfolds. The red-haired woman he does not know proceeds to make a threat that Vaati does not appreciate, lurching forward as the words pass her lips. Throwing her into the claws of an enemy was a traitorous act, a gross betrayal he would not allow. Vaati owes no fidelity to these people, but to Caiaphas he feels a greater amount of subservience for she had once offered aid to his people when she owed them nothing. It is something he would not so quickly forget, and as she fades out of consciousness, he steps protectively towards her body... watching silently as the new alpha struggles to clean the wound. There is little he can do to help, but simply assure that Rosalyn did not follow up on her fleeting promise.

She was a rush of activity when she arrived at the place where Erzulie kept her stores.  Fortunately for Caiaphas, Rosalyn has been rent deeply enough times to immediately recognize the common things as well as recall, vaguely, how to use them.  She couldn't pick them up off the ground, but her wife was meticulous and she found them easily enough there.  Somehow she thought Erzulie wouldn't mind.  Surely she'd mind less than Rosalyn did herself.

She'd not cooled down entirely by the time she came back.  Her gaze was still frosty, and she completely ignored the new wolf who stood there.  If they were going to save this idiot, then so be it.

She began chewing, then passed indicated Firefly should move as she spat the mix on the siren's throat.  Now hold, she said, grimacing a little from the taste.

We are all going to have a talk, she thought silently, her ears flattening again as she watched.  Everyone seemed so keen to go at Drageda's throat, but none of them had seen its heart like she had.  She'd been one of them once.  It wasn't that she didn't trust their skill - she didn't trust their resolve.  Their band of outcasts didn't have an ounce of the single minded, insane intensity the wolves of the cliffs voiced.  It was what had chased her from the pack the first time and what she imagined would destroy them if they continued to prod a sleeping dragon.

Grass, grass, grass, grass...

Yami flew along the shoreline quick as her limbs would carry her (which was in fact very fast indeed). She didn’t know for certain what alfalfa grass was, but she did know for certain that she very much hoped it was the only sort of grass she saw. She didn’t want to waste time picking through different species to try and find the right one. Rosalyn’s threat remained at the forefront of her mind, and though Yami wasn’t sure how she felt about Caiaphas’s belligerence, she was at least sure that she didn’t want anyone to die while she was comparing grass lengths and fretting.

When the Ostrega reached her destination, she nearly lost her damn mind with panic when she realized NONE of the grass she was looking at seemed tall. I mean, it was all fairly long, but none of it like, screamed tall. If she had been the one to order someone else to go find it, she certainly wouldn’t have called it tall. She would’ve just said to go find the grass that looks like all the other grass and hurry or everyone’s going to die while you’re picking fucking GRASS.

She should just leave. Fuck.

Yami tore up as large a mouthful as she could of whatever she could find, turned, and rushed back.

When she arrived, another male had joined the party. He must’ve been one of the other scarred ones Raleska had mentioned. Yami glanced sheepishly at him as she moved to drop the grass before Firefly - also very scarred - and stepped back to settle again behind Rosalyn - also, very scarred. Caiaphas was the only one who didn’t look torn to bits. Though... that wasn’t exactly true anymore, was it? This... this was all starting to make some sense.

She should just leave. Fuck.

Rosalyn prompted that he recuse himself for a moment and he was more than willing, at which point she spat some gunk across the wound and he returned to place some pressure upon it; however, Yami skirted through the growing collective of wolves around that moment too and Firefly flashed her an appreciative (but still somewhat frenzied) look and set about using the grass she'd found. Not all of it was young enough for the purpose he intended, but most of it was the right type and he'd make it work regardless. With a glance back to Yami he said, I need to to keep pressure here, and showed her where to insert her snout (since that is what he'd been using to blot the blood), and once she was in place he grabbed the grass between his teeth and began to work at it.

More than likely, this was the same greenery that Erzulie had stored. It wasn't going on the wounds though — Firefly didn't need to coat them with anything else for now, he needed Caiaphas to swallow the paste he was crushing. The alfalfa would've worked on a shallow wound but nothing as life threatening as the tear in her throat. His only hope was getting her to swallow and digest it - that would help her blood to clot, if Rosalyn's contribution were to fail.

When he'd made enough of a mess with his crunching (turning the grass in to a paste on his own tongue) he dipped his snout to where Caiaphas' head rested and shoved a wad of it in to her mouth, then another, and worked them down her throat with some rough caresses of his nose. At a few points she sputtered and he wondered, shit did I not break them down enough ---? but soon the grass was gone, and he could only wait and hope.

At this point he returned to where Yami waited, and sighed beside her, Okay, you're doing great Yami. I'll take over if you want.

Firefly took over once more and Rosalyn gladly let him, sitting to the side and staring moodily anything that wasn't one of the wolves here.  She was available to help, but didn't exactly offer it - she'd done what she could to ensure Caiaphas would live, and it was more than she had owed right now.  Emotion dictated that she be angry, and she obliged.

Deep down a part of her might know she didn't truly wish the siren dead, but that part was buried under a mountain of what the fuck at the moment.  She was both a mother and a father - alongside a stomach full of children of her own, she had a mate with the same.  There was only one wolf who Rosalyn would endanger the children in her to save, and that was Erzulie herself.  Raleska was the only other who even ranked close, and it was because she was a glimpse of what might be should she have a daughter of her own.

Slowly, though, her stormy anger slowed to a simmer, one that was less apt to throw about threats and more apt to simply sit in her stomach and curdle.  She preferred the former - the taste of those herbs wasn't sitting well right now.

She'll just chill until phas wakes up or firefly tells her to something or whatev

It seemed the grass she'd brought was indeed the right stuff. Yami felt relief flood her, but her blood ran cold very shortly after as Firefly gave her another instruction. Her eyes widened fretfully as she looked from him to Caiaphas. Put pressure on the wound? For one hysterical moment, she considered screaming threats at the former alpha that she better stop bleeding or they were gonna cut her more, but that was obviously not the sort of pressure Firefly was referring to. She might've refused, or at least questioned his judgment here in making her be the one to do it, but he was already moving away and leaving the wound to bleed freely, so she just moved and stuffed her muzzle into the bloody bits. Her heart was hammering as she stood there. Caiaphas's blood was running all over her muzzle and getting into her nostrils. but she stood perfectly still as Firefly went to work.

Time felt like it stretched, turning minutes into hours. By the time Firefly offered to take her place, she was pretty sure she'd aged ten years. But when she lifted her head, it wasn't to let Firefly take her place, but to swap to using a paw instead so she could sneeze the blood out of her nose a few times and look at him, stricken with anxiety as she asked, "Does it. Do I have to use my face?"

When he took up position holding some of his weight against the gouge in Caiaphas' throat, he heard the sound of Yami's wavering voice and realized he'd asked too much of her. With her face lined with fresh blood and vibrant red dribbling from her nostrils, he realized he'd failed in giving her proper instruction - but he didn't fault himself for that, it was a heated moment and he had no time. As he took over for her, he started by using his broad paws but couldn't get a good position with them; Firefly looked at her in silence to see if she noticed the way the blood continued to flow messily from the wound, and said, That'll do. Step back, please.

Eventually Caiaphas' blood would begin to coagulate thanks to the mash he'd fed her, and because of the poultice that Rosalyn had smeared acros the wound; then she would be carefully moved to shelter. Hopefully Erzulie would have returned to the Sound by then --- but Firefly couldn't let himself think too hard about timelines, he just needed to keep the woman alive.