Ghost Lion Crag Stand and deliver

Colt was right; she didn't make it far.

Without realizing it, Kiwi managed to drag herself to the place where her brother had spent a good many days before she collapsed.  She didn't quite manage to make it to the shelter she sought, instead sprawling in a shaking heap under the beating sun.

Should've killed me, she thought distantly, denying even now that this was very much still an option.  She was a mess, the worst of it her hind leg where Colt had attempted to halt her by removing her mobility and her side where he'd focused on putting her down for good.  She'd refused, and in the end, it had taken an almost lethal amount to turn her fury aside.  But it wasn't turned.  If she survived this, she would see him again.

He killed her, she thought feverishly, but that was the last of it.  Finally overcome by the shock and blood loss, her body shut down and she sank into nothingness.  Only the faint rise and fall of her breath showed the fight wasn't quite over - not yet.

When all matters regarding Colt's well-being had been taken care of (and Wraen, though still wary about being too near to the blood that was oozing from his wounds, had helped the best she could in every other way), she decided to leave the Firebirds' for a bit. Just to breathe, hunt and think. And simply take a break.

However, this was not meant to be, because she ran across a set of tracks that carried scent of stale blood and - most curiously - some of Sovereign's odour too. Could it be? Now she was in a dilemma - follow right away and see, where it led, or inform someone else in the pack and take more forces with her? But, between her and the two elders and and agoraphobic Eljay, who was left there really? Kids also needed to be looked after and they had no person to spare.

So she began to track, at first it was difficult to pinpoint the right scent, but then she got right on it and followed it like Ansel and Gretel did after bread-crumbs. In time she was rewarded - at the end of the trail lied a bloody heap of an injured wolf. Wraen approached her warily, again feeling her insides churn at the sight of blood and scent of injured flesh (odd for a carnivore, I know), and half hoping that Kiwi was dead already and would save her a lot of trouble.

She was not. Barely, but still alive. Instead of waking her up right away, Wraen settled down few feet from her and waited for the girl to open her eyes. She was not yet sure, what to do with her. The girl had violently attacked a member of her packmate, if it was any other stranger, there was only one thing to do. But Kiwi was Wildfire's daughter and that stopped Wraen for making rash decisions. Yet, anyway.

She'd gone too far this time, though she'd never admit that herself.  Alone and gravely injured, it would be a miracle if she survived the week.  If something didn't come along to kill her, starvation or thirst would, and perhaps the former was the kinder close to her story.

She didn't come around for a while.  When she did, she didn't immediately notice Wraen sitting there.  Instead she noticed how open it was, and immediately instinctually began to drag herself painfully towards the cliffs lining the crag.

While Kiwi was still unconscious, Wraen observed her and felt torn. It would have been oh, so convenient if the girl had been dead already. She could simply return home and tell the (good) news. Or there was a chance to leave now, because, frankly speaking, what were the odds for the girl to survive on her own. Her gaze momentarily traced the outline of the cliffs and the scent of cougars she had caught here on previous visits. Sooner or later a different predator or scavenger would be attracted to the smell of blood and that would be the end of it. Problem solved.

Really?

No. If she went now, some part of her would always remain here trying to find the optimal solution for the situation. Leaving a heavily injured wolf on their own - even if all gods of justice told her that this was the bed the girl had made for herself - it did not ring well. What would her father and mother do in her place? She pondered, wondering, what if one of their children turned on them. Impossible. And yet knowing, what Kiwi had done, made her doubt her own formerly concrete belief in her family. This could happen... What would Terance do? Her memory brought her back to a time and space a year ago. A young wolf, who had had some unfinished business with Rannoch. Terance had been about to nearly kill the guy were it not for Liffey's interference.

They had left Moonspear to be different.

Cerberus and Titmouse. The sisters had given justice, without giving the young wolf a chance to defend himself. They had done, what they had believed was right. And it had not felt like that for Wraen. There had to be a different way to manage things. She believed in showing mercy. The exception being that the boy had been innocent and unjustly punished, whereas Kiwi in the current affairs hardly had any chances. She was guilty and, if there was some justice in the world, she should suffer.

Hadn't she been punished already?

At this moment Kiwi woke and Wraen had no firm decision. She watched the girl struggle onwards, while her mind was reeling to find a solution to a very complex problem. And finally she decided that she needed more time. With a look of I am going to regret this she padded past the girl, quickly scouted the nearby area for suitable and well protected crevice for Kiwi to hide (or die), found one and the returned to the girl. Loud rumble and a wall of iron-blue clouds told that a thunderstorm was not far. "Get up," she prodded the girl's uninjured side (if there was such). If she did, Wraen would slid underneath and half-drag/half-carry the girl to the hiding place.

She was so out of it and so singly focused on 'safety.  Get to cover' that, ironically maybe, she missed the threat Wraen presented entirely until the woman was in her space.  

As soon as her side was judged, Kiwi's head whipped around and her teeth bared.  She didn't recognize Wraen immediately, and rather than setting her at ease, knowing that she was from the Firebirds only made it worse.  How many had Colt convinced? All of them, probably.

I don't need help, she hissed, but that was a lie and they both knew it.  Still, if Wraen was going to finish her, there was no way Kiwi was going down without a fight.  Not even if she could barely stand upright currently.

"Yeah, you do," Wraen replied in a voice that did not give much room for further arguing. Again there was a part of her that wanted to snatch that "jail free-card" and put as much distance between her and the criminal as possible. Yet she could not - she was still in the gray area about the whole ordeal, having seen the results and coming up with the possible story herself. While she was there, she might as well act on it. There would still be time to leave, if she changed her mind. 

But for now... "There is a crevice big enough for you to hide in," she told the girl and beckoned to the place she had found earlier. "A storm is coming - if you stay outside, you will freeze."

She wanted to argue, so so badly, even though she knew she was wrong.  She'd liked Wraen, though now doubtless she was stupidly loyal to Colt now.  And she was too tired to argue further because it was taking all she had not to collapse here and let that be the end of it.

Somehow she managed to get herself to the place Wraen saw.  Kiwi had her faults, but determination was fortunately something she had in spades, especially when it meant not embarrassing herself in front of a rival.  Her breathing was a rattling and labored gasp by the end, but she slithered into the crevice and slid to the ground.  She could have cried, she was so ready to lie down.

He deserved it, she finally said, breaking the silence with the soft mumble.  She didn't need to explain herself, of course she was in the right.  Yet something made her say it.

Wraen did not argue with people that were ill and people that were crazy and, since she was not sure, who was at the steering wheel in Kiwi's case, she did not respond to the announcement. Like with all the other problems she would deal with it tomorrow, or day after that, or never. She found that her wish to help Wildfire's daughter at this moment was stronger than any reasonable and just arguments, why not to. 

The thunder rumbled in the distance and she saw a flash of lightening against the iron blue clouds. The distant pattering of rain came closer and closer, until the water came down in a wall, washing away all trails and scents left by her and by Kiwi. That was good - Wraen thought. For now, anyway. She briefly looked over her shoulder at the girl, then turned back to observe the rain and think. 

When the rainfall eased somewhat she decided that she should bring some food to the girl. "Do you have any friends near?" Wraen asked and it was clear that she did not mean any of the Firebirds or herself for that matter. Other people, who could take over and take care of Kiwi. And what was more important - take her far, far away from here. "You will need someone to guard you and you must leave as soon as possible," she added.

Wraen was quiet for a while, and despite being on edge and extremely distrustful of this, sheer exhaustion had Kiwi drift off.  It was fitful and somewhat feverish, though, so when Wraen spoke she snapped immediately back awake.

She was still muddled and that made her less cautious.  I have a mountain, she replied slowly, Not near.  It was a long trip from here to there, and that didn't exactly answer the question of if she had friends.  Yami, she added as a drowsy afterthought, suddenly feeling rather sluggish.  She'd been worried before... why?  She just wanted to sleep, that's all. Sleep was something, but she never finished that thought because before she could, she was drifting off again.

Wraen left Kiwi sleep, made sure that all tracks had been washed away by the rain and that with everyone being preoccupied with Colt's well-being, no one had followed them here. Good. Luckily there was no sign of other predators either. 

While hunting it occurred to her more than once, whether, what she was doing was worth it. Betraying her new family's trust by helping a person, who had deliberately attacked Sovereign. It was a crime, it was punishable. But wasn't the girl punished enough already? She was on the verge of death after all. She could still die and everything would be solved, right?

Then the Yami person on a mountain far away - how was she possibly going to find her. There were many mountains along the coast and she had only a name without a face. It was unrealistic to find her among so many wolves. And if her absence was too long, it would be noticed, it would raise questions. 

Tomorrow. She will deal with this tomorrow. Few hours later she returned to the place, found Kiwi still living and breathing, left a muskrat, lied down a little distance away, guarding the crevice and lost in thoughts again. Why couldn't life and decisions be easy?