Neverwinter Forest I'm an accelerant, baby

His little sprint along the coast had brought him nothing but misery. As he returned home, the blood continued to trickle from his nose which was quite obviously broken or in the very least, fractured from the puncture wounds left behind by Mahler's powerful canines. If all went well, he might learn from this experience, to keep his mouth shut during fights- as Mahler's canines had pierced both his hard palate into the nasal cavity, and down through the bridge of his nose as well. His muzzle was swollen and distorted, and made his eyes look even more small and sunken than usual; especially with the dour expression he now bore, as he very much regretted entering the fray to begin with. 

Not knowing what else to do to fix his muzzle, he found his way to a stream, and plunged his face down into the water, hoping it might help wash away some of the blood and open up his nasal cavity. Instead, he felt water rush in, and trickle down through the puncture wound in the roof of his mouth, which made him gag and curse from the pain. He sneezed several times, spraying blood into the stream, and growling in agony. Out of all the wounds he'd ever received- including having his tail more or less bitten clean off- this was definitely the most annoying wound he'd ever had. But at least the sneezing had forced some of the dried blood out of his muzzle, and while he still couldn't breathe in through his nose without inhaling spatters of blood, he at least had a bit of the pressure removed. 

Unable to do much else but wait for the bleeding to stop, he sat at the edge of the stream, with his head lowered, mouth open and blood dripping regularly from his nose, mourning the fact that he could no longer use mouth-breather as an insult without seeming like a hypocrite.

The cursing and gagging was what caught Caerus' attention, but the blood that passed him in the stream as he moved towards the source of the noise is what brought concern. His pace increased, and soon enough he found the male with the overbite fangs whose muzzle was shoved near the stream. Blood flowed from a wound somewhere on his nose or mouth, and Cae's eyes widened, though he did not look away. Instead the boy approached hesitantly, testing the air and finding Simmik's scent- among other, more recent ones. what happened to you? are- are you okay? He wondered, keep a respectful distance from the unfamiliar man.

Amid the pattering of rainfall and the rushing sound of the stream, he heard soft pawsteps approaching him, though he figured he wouldn't have to avoid whoever it was, seeing as he was well within the borders of a pack he now belonged to. It was kind of nice, not having to watch his own back for once. He reveled in the simplicity of a life spent within secure borders already, though living amongst others did have its drawbacks. At the top of the list- children. 

He didn't move his head, but slanted one slate grey eye in the youth's direction as he continued to hang his dripping nose over the stream. While Jackalope could only see the kid out of the corner of his eye, he could tell that the youth was mortified at what he saw. "Ugghhhhh," He groaned in reply. He allowed his lower jaw to hang, slack, whilst he tried to speak in order to keep his bottom teeth from putting pressure on his upper jaw. "Got vvvit. Vvroked'n...d'nose." He grated, realizing now that speaking, as well, was painful. He could hardly form the syllables without applying pressure- from his tongue or his soft pallet- to somewhere outchy within his mouth. "Sh'seee th'hoth'rr guy," He boasted, albeit without much conviction.

The guy groaned, but Caerus simply watched on. broken nose? Cae echoed, at least he thought that was what was said- it made sense, after all. When the stranger said Caerus should "see the other guy", the youth snorted a laugh. looks to me like you're a loser either way. He chuckled dryly. The boy moved forward, shifting his neck down to get a look at where the blood dripped, though he could not see within his mouth. Still, he pulled back away, muttering i think i got somethin' for you. 

Dad had mentioned this stuff before, right? Caerus had wordlessly paced some yards away, picking apart some trees with his gaze until he found some near the roots- cobwebs! the boy pawed awkwardly at them until he had gathered a small ball, and then limped back to the stream awkwardly on three legs, while the other hung in the air, holding the silvery glob. He dropped it at the feet of the male, my dad said this stops bleeding? i dunno. He offered with a shrug of his shoulders that said don't blame me if I fucked up.

At the best of times, Jackalope tolerated children- but this was not the best of times. So when he snorted at the boy's comment, a small trickle of blood trickled from his nose and he had to squint and hold his breath in order to keep himself from either hissing profanities or clenching his teeth. Not that he cared whether or not the kid heard him cussing- he just knew that words hurt, and that profanities were often more percussive than normal words and therefore more painful. He looked at the kid again. Unusual pelt on him- and a dainty little heart shape on his forehead. What a nerd. 

When he moved forward, Jackalope's lips quivered, a mild warning that he did not want to be touched or tampered with. He knew he shouldn't outright threaten a child...Even if he did look like he was about preteen age or so. It was too soon to do that. He'd get kicked to the curb if the kid ratted him out for being a jackass, so he tried to temper his frustration and simply ignore the boy who seemed to think he could do something to help Jackalope. And to Jackalope's relief, he did do something that helped- he left. Jackalope breathed a sigh, and hunched his shoulders again, hoping that the kid just got distracted from whatever it was he was gone off looking for, and didn't come back. Maybe he'd get the hint that Jackalope didn't want to be pals with some nerd with a heart on his forehead. 

But he heard the boy's pawsteps approaching again and Jackalope's hackles bristled weakly against the falling rain, and he turned his head somewhat sharply when Caerus gingerly placed a small ball of...Well, he wasn't sure what it was. A cocoon? Why the hell was he bringing him a cocoon? Did he want Jackalope to shove it up his nose to stop the bleeding or what? Jackalope tossed his head, and with a flick of his paw, sent the little ball of cobwebs flying out into the stream where it was quickly washed away. "Nuh th'nks, wit-th doc-trr," He commented dryly. Whatever it was Caerus thought that the cocoon-like thing would do, Jackalope wasn't having it. He wasn't exactly going to take medical advice from a kid, no matter how well-meaning he seemed. He'd already gone ahead and more or less done his reputation in by calling Jackalope a 'loser.' His ego was fragile, and his patience paper-thin already.

He turned his head to get another look at the boy, and found himself wondering if he wasn't some distant relation of the piebald male he'd seen on the cliffs. The thought made him scrunch his nose up- which was a bad idea. It triggered a very spontaneous- and explosive- sneeze, sending a gush of air, spittle and blood directly in the boy's direction.

Mature Content Warning

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The participants have indicated the following reason(s) for this warning: LANGUAGE!!!! SOMEONE STOP THIS BOY!

What an asshole. Not only did this guy blow away the cobweb that Caerus had so carefully chosen and plucked for him, he sneezed in his face. Caerus narrowed his eyes, leaning towards the patient- not his patient anymore, considering his attitude- and spat in his face like a llama.

Ungrateful fucker. He snorted with a huff of breath. This guy reminded him of Asmoses- not that they really had anything special in common, just the fact that Caerus hated both of them. Fine, if he didn't want help, he wouldn't get any! But that didn't mean Cae would leave him alone. Nah, this kid was pretty vengeful and loved to hold grudges. Even weeks after this went down, he wouldn't forget it- and would probably use it as an excuse to torment him whenever possible. Yeah, petty. 

He began to walk away, as if he might leave, but turned at the last moment- and raced towards the male, attempting to tackle him at the neck and shove his head down forcefully into the water if possible. Quick transition from doctor to madman. Thank god for his rapidly growing size.

>:D

As much as Caerus likely thought Jackalope was simply being offensive for the purpose of being a jackass, he actually detested sneezing given how much it hurt- and recoiled from the boy squinting to hold back the tears that prickled in the corners of his eyes. No matter how much of a nuisance the kid was, Jackalope wouldn't have chosen to sneeze at him, or at anyone, considering how much it hurt when it happened. He heard the boy curse and didn't flinch, muttering "Guh fuch yersel'" quietly under his breath as the snotty brat walked away. Given the fact he'd just spattered the boy with nose-blood, he didn't expect the kid to come back, or go anywhere near him for the next ten years or so. 

Instead, he heard a brief scuffle and barely had time to lift and turn his head before the youth smacked into him, grabbing him about his neck and forcing him to lose balance and fall face-first into the swiftly moving stream. He didn't even have time to force out much more than a surprised gurgle, coughing some of the spittle up from the back of his throat, before his face was plunged underwater.

Caerus probably didn't hear the dull thud of Jackalope's skull hitting the stone just below the surface- but the snaggletoothed man went limp almost immediately after he splashed into the water and within seconds, the current began to tug his slackened body away from the shallows.

>:3

 

While Jackalope was successfully tackled into the stream- well, Caerus hadn't meant to push him entirely, but whatever- the boy tried to pull back away. He hadn't thought very far past the action and into its consequences, so when he was dragged down towards the stream along with the adult, his instincts were too slow to react. Luckily for Cae, he did not splash in at such an unfortunate angle, but the water suddenly upon him was certainly a surprise.

More of a surprise, though, was the sudden droop of Jackalope, the muscles that relaxed- what the fuck? The boy's gaze widened again with shock as the water began to drag the limp body, but the boy quickly screwed his head on straight, and grabbed the man's nape, using all his strength to drag him back to a shallow place. It wasn't easy. Luckily for him, he was in his rapid growth stage- and the weight he had gained in the past several weeks provided useful leverage. Caerus pulled and pulled until he dropped the heavy corpse body of the stranger into the grasses that lined the shallower edges of the stream. 

CAN YOU HEAR ME? WAKE UP! The boy shouted frantically into his face, heart beating faster and faster each moment. Oh god, had he killed him? He had never meant to go that far! Caerus began to tremble out of nervousness more than anything, but pushed his wet paws upon the other, forcing his limp body onto his back. Then he climbed atop Jackalope and began to perform an amateur version of CPR, which was more like stepping on his chest and lifting his paws over and over.

Caerus wouldn't get much of a response from Jackalope, who'd sucked in a bit of water after having had his head clocked against a stone, and it trickled out of his mouth slowly as he was dragged from the water. His half-closed eyes revealed just a glimpse of his silvery irises, but no emotional content, no realization of the fact that he'd nearly been dragged under a current he couldn't possibly have fought, or the fact that he'd been rescued. He did not flinch when Caerus bellowed into one of his ears, and continued to stare off into his eyelids, over the swollen bridge of his muzzle. 

His head and tongue lolled as he was shoved over onto his back, and his legs flopped uselessly to the side gracelessly, slightly bent at the knees and propped up on one side by a wet rock in the grass. When Caerus stepped onto his stomach, he folded slightly under the boy's weight, and shifted from side to side as his chest was kneaded. Insufficient force was used, though, to strike the water from his lungs and while the slow trickle from his mouth continued with each step Caerus took, Jackalope was still senseless as a wet rag.

fuckfuckshitfuckshitshit

Well, clearly this wasn't working. Dude was stone cold- definitely dead, because Caerus was too frantic in this moment to consider the fact that he'd just been dunked in river water. In this moment he wished any adult might come to his aid- @Miriam , Aibreann, Simmik- tell him whether this guy could still be saved. He wasn't sure if he could live with himself if he really was a murderer. Until someone arrived, Cae would continue pushing, still trying even as Jackalope's body showed few signs of getting any better.

Miriam spent her day idling around, not sure what could be done besides watching her children. She toyed with the idea of venturing again, however last time, she ended up getting lost. Perhaps it was best when the rain would settle, and her children growing older. Maybe they could come with, but she simply felt.. Useless, as a pack-member.

Upon a daily walk, she came across Caerus- and another? Her starry-eyes widened in surprise as the closer she came, the more the other seemed dead, as they were unmoving on the ground, like a corpse. Hurrying over, she looked at the heart-stamped child and asked, "What happened?"

Though seeing him preform a pushing method, and the water trickle out.. Miriam gave a short prayer to the Goddess, for the safety of this fellow, and helped upon the pressure with her own paws.

Soon enough Miriam arrived, aiding his efforts quickly and asking after the situation. he was all dizzy at the edge of the river, and when i went to check on him, he fell in! Caerus lied easily, and his emotional state aided the believability of his words. Miriam still believed him a good boy as far as he knew: not the selfish, swearing brat that he was, but rather the child who had sung songs to her daughter and helped bring her twins home when they wandered off. Still, he worried that the man would wake and accuse him, and so slipped in, i hope he didn't hit his head; it would be bad if he woke up with scrambled memories, huffed in an exhale as he continued to press on his chest.

With an ugly, gagging cough, life and consciousness seized Jackalope, causing his ribs to spasm in convulsions as he spat up the remaining fluid that had settled into his lungs. He instinctively pushed himself out from under the kid, not caring if he gave the kid a kick in the face or the gut, he simply needed to get the weight off his chest while he rolled over onto his belly, stared through a dark fog and took in a few gasping breaths. 

His head throbbed, and it took him a moment or two to remember that he couldn't breathe through his nose, so with his tongue lolling out and a thick trail of foamy spittle dripping from his tongue to the ground, he caught his breath, and rubbed a paw over the spot on his forehead that now pained him as well. Eventually, he turned his head to glare accusingly at the child- whose lies had gone over his head completely, and to the velveteen woman who he assumed had come to his aid. "Ughh, fank god. Blease tell be you saved be from this hobicidal, psychobaddic liddle eeeejit," He said, baring his teeth at the kid. Head injury aside- it'd take more than a near-drowning experience for Jackalope to forget his grudges.

"Oh no," he fell in? It seemed he swallowed too much water then by the time he was fished out, and she leaned in to his maw to hear for breathe. It was faint, but he was alive, that was what mattered. The Goddess should be thanked the younger one saved him, "i'm proud of you Caerus," the mother said, giving him a small and gentle smile, "let's move him somwhere safer ok?" she wouldn't want him waking up, and then repeating the process.

However he woke up! Instead of being thankful, the man accused him something, words she couldn't understand in a mumble. But fangs were clear, and Miriam was quick to move in front of Caerus in a protective matter, "sir', you fell in the water and hit your head. I think you're a bit confused, let's move you into a den, ok?" As the mother was not a medic, the best she could do was temporary move him to her own den, while calling for someone more experienced. However, their efforts to try and help didn't come in vain, with the simple CPR. She wondered if there was particular herbs to help his confusion..

Miriam said she was proud, and he beamed shyly at her as if bashful of the compliment, though inwardly he was glad she believed his tale. In a moment Jackalope was sputtering awake, and the kid took a single cautious step backward. The ugly bastard turned to glare at him, and whether or not Miriam understood his words, they were clear enough to the boy who knew the truth. oh my god, seems like you really hit your head hard!! Caerus nearly cooed with a faux-sympathetic shake of his head that would've seemed genuine to any who didn't know what had happened. When the woman suggested they move the male, Caerus nodded professionally. come on, do you think you can walk okay?

Just gonna tidy this up since she's ancient <3
wc: 210

Jackalope gawked at Miriam over his swollen muzzle with an incredulous gaze as he was informed that he'd fallen into the water, and had hit his head. In part, it was the truth- he had hit his head, and had been knocked unconscious- but it was all the boy's fault. He cast an angry gaze toward the kid whose shocked features looked perfectly guilty to Jackalope, though he was doing his best to play the innocent bystander who'd heroically saved Jackalope's life. Just another sign that this kid was nothing more than a psychopath, as Jackalope had previously concluded.

So disgusted was he with the youth's false sincerity, and confused as well (had he fallen in? Or was that just a false memory? What had really happened? The fact that the kid's act was actually making him doubt himself rattled Jackalope, who hissed and seethed at the boy as he came near, and he withdrew from the both of them. “Screw off, the both of ya,” He warned, and though his head throbbed, he was in no mood to suffer the forgery of empathy from the cruel child, or the matronly care from the moondust female, and he stalked off into the woods to nurse his wounds on his own.