Duskfire Glacier from the endless dream

For @Bazi specifically, but AW.

Kaskara hadn't enjoyed seeing Danica, for it reminded her of the venomous words she had said about her brother. Did the light wolf think Kas would forget it? It had been a full day since they arrived and Kaskara was pacing back and forth near the borders of Duskfire Glacier. The trio of Creek scouts had found a copse of trees to call theirs for the time being, and Kaskara hoped they would stay no longer than necessary.

The sun was high in the western sky, just beginning its descent into darkness. The sun felt warm against her fur, though she barely felt it. Kaskara barely believed anything that happened these days. Between Bazi and the leaders of this pack, Kaskara's heart felt sore. She wanted to see Bazi, to speak with her, so she loped closer to the pack's borders and sent up a howl, a desperate plea to see her friend again. Once the howl died, Kas began pacing back and forth, a few yards in each direction, waiting for a sign from anybody.

She didn't want to be alone any longer.

Yikes, perhaps I shouldn't have joined the other thread. :D Maybe we could say that Bazi needs a few strength-gathering days? I'll assume that, but we can change it as we go along!

It had been decided that Bazi and the Swiftcurrent wolves would remain for a few more days - the former because every day saw her strength improve significantly, and the latter three because they, too, needed rest. And it seemed proper.

The Swiftcurrent trio set up camp outside the pack's borders. Bazi remained within Duskfire proper, having promised Njal to spend time with Maera before she left. But today, the growing girl was looking for trinkets to fill her peculiar little lair, and Bazi was alone. She welcomed Kaskara's howl, moving to greet her at a slow, uneven trot - but still a trot.

Fifty yards away, the overzealous patient had to slow down. "I can run!" she exclaimed breathlessly to her once packmate, as though she had just crossed a thousand leagues at full pelt. Her voice was still hoarse. It seemed to have plateaued at 'bad infection', and made her sound older than she was.

Kaskara didn't know if the white dove would want to visit with her this afternoon, but she was glad when her former alpha appeared on the horizon, trotting. Kas's eyes were wide as she ran to meet her friend, a smile on her face. "I can see that!" The chocolate wolf laughed, gently pulling herself closer to Bazi and nuzzle her cheek gently. She had missed her friend, and despite what her brother might think, Kaskara was glad she was returning with them.

"I'm so glad to see you improving," she said, pulling back to take in her friend, from her gaunt frame to her thin face. "Would you like me to hunt for you?" she offered, frowning sightly. Bazi was stronger than she surely was only a few weeks ago, but Kaskara knew that if she was going to leave with them in a few days, she would need all the strength she could get.

This was better. No more cringe-worthy posturing from Bazi as she tried to overcome the fact that youth and leadership were uneasy bedfellows. Now she was just a wolf, which she was rather a dab hand at after nearly two years of daily practice.

"Slowly," she complained, bumping her nose against Kaskara's chin. The offer of food made her mouth water. Bazi would have to accept in order to make it back home on her own four feet; it was far less humiliating to take food from her packmates now than wait until they had to physically drag her across the Teekon Wilds. "I will owe you so many carcasses when my leg is healed.. so many. Yes, please - thank you. I never want to see another fish." There were plenty of rabbits in the forest, but they were much too fast for a cripple to catch.

No matter how slowly Bazi was recovering, Kaskara was glad she was alive and able to recover at all. "Make yourself comfortable. I'll be back shortly." Making sure that Bazi settled down, Kas gave her a quick nuzzle and trotted off. She found the trail of a rabbit and followed it quickly, careful even in her haste to remain silent.

Soon a field loomed before her and a few rabbits dotted the browning grass. She watched the animals from the underbrush, waiting to see if any were weakened or slower than their fellows. After a few long moments, she spotted one limping nearby. With a grin, Kaskara hunkered down and crept forward slightly, before shooting out of the brush, gaining speed as she hit open land.

The warrior chased the rabbit, her legs pumping with the speed of one used to such activities, and finally grabbed hold of it's neck, flinging it once to snap it. The others had disappeared, which was unfortunate, because Kaskara was hungry too. She would be fine hunting later. Kas trotted back to Bazi, the rabbit swinging from her jaws, and laid it down before the white dove. "Eat." she commanded, before sitting down to watch over her.

Bazi hunkered down among the pale, dying grass, watching Kaskara's progress until it was difficult to make out more than the occasional blur of activity. It didn't take long. When the kill was dropped at her feet, Bazi stared up at her hunter in wonder - for someone with a warrior's frame, Kaskara was unusually quick on her feet. She didn't bother asking for details about the kill - hunger burned suddenly in her gut. When commanded to, the starved wolf nearly swallowed the rabbit whole, making short work of the sinewy carcass.

It took all her willpower to save a rear leg, which she nosed towards the darker wolf. "Please - I don't know what red meat will do to my stomach, so I better not eat the whole thing," she lied, turning away from Kaskara as if to refuse a response that wasn't 'yes, certainly, I'll eat this for you'. To further reduce the temptation to argue, she jumped straight into another thread of conversation. "It'll never be the same. My leg. I'll have to do something else." Like babies, or healing, or taking care of the elderly - anything that didn't require functioning legs, which all three of her core responsibilities did. "..whatever the Alpha needs, I suppose," she finished, grazing the subject of Scimitar in an all too obvious way. Would he have her back? .. had he moved on?

Kaskara watched Bazi eat, content that she found the rabbit to her liking. When she was finished, she nosed a leg toward her as she offered it, and then promptly turned away, as if to ensure she would not argue. "Thank you." Kaskara took the leg and nudged it out of the way to save it for later. Her two-toned eyes watched the white dove closely, wondering what had caused her to become so worried about arguing with others. Kas wasn't going to refuse the food, no matter what, especially not since Bazi was so obviously sick. She would do anything for her at this point.

But she didn't mention it, simply allowed the moment to wash over her. Then the younger woman turned toward her and resumed conversation as if nothing happened. "Something else? Your leg will be fine with time, you'll see." Though she didn't know the extent of the injury, Kas had seen horrible injuries heal with time, rest, and a good healer. Ah, so we're there, she thought as Bazi approached the subject of Scimitar. "The alpha needs you, Bazi. Once you're back and healed up, everything will fall into place."

Kas wondered briefly if she should mention how he felt, and after a moment decided she had better warn her friend. "Bazi, I have to warn you. Scim thought the worst of you while you were gone. He was afraid you'd abandoned him." She sighed, shaking her head, as she looked at her friend. "He'll be upset for a while, but once he realizes you didn't leave him, he'll be fine. His pride was hurt, is all."

Kaskara took the hint, and was kind enough to believe in the best case scenario on all counts. Bazi stared at her ghastly yellow paws whilst mulling it over. She trusted Kaskara to know her brother - and what she was saying was.. mostly true. Upon leaving Swiftcurrent Creek, it had never entered into Bazi's mind that she would not return.

Or?

Perhaps once, when she was three steps beyond the last trace of Swiftcurrent scent, she had wondered what it would be like to drop everything start again somewhere else. No roots, no back-story, no obligations. It had been a fleeting thought - barely a second, but still there. The guilt weighed heavily on her now.

"I.. I thought about it, for a second." It was a mumbled admission. Tears came unbidden to Bazi's eyes - again. The better she got, the more she cried. "For a second - I was just so weary of it all! All I wanted was to see Tuwawi again, and the ki-ki-iiids," She was sobbing now, eyes and nose dribbling equally. "But she isn't here and her children are gone and everything is so awful for them! I w-w-would never do that to someone on purpose!" She sniffed hard, wiping her tear-streaked face against the inside of her left knee. "Do you really think he-HIC! he'll forgive me?"

The idea that Bazi had considered leaving Swiftcurrent Creek for good pierced her more than she was willing to admit, but Kas understood where the girl was coming from. It was hard being an alpha, especially one as young as she was, and with all the issues and problems that she inherited from Fox, her time as alpha hadn't been easy. Kaskara didn't blame her for wanting out, but Bazi definitely didn't need to tell Scimitar that.

"I understand why you wanted to leave, Bazi," she said, her voice low. Kas was tired in her own right, but not in the same way. "I believe my brother will eventually forgive you, but you can't let him know you seriously thought about abandoning him." Kas shook her head, wondering at the fragility of her brother's ego. "He won't take kindly to that at all. But if you tell him that you just needed space, that you needed to see your friends, to think on it some, and you decided to come back before your accident, I think he will find it in his heart to forgive you."

Conclude? :)

Bazi nodded emphatically, and dried her eyes on the inside of her left knee. Kaskara was right. Certain things had to be kept to oneself - or between the women, whose sacred bond Bazi had missed almost more than the fragile blossom of romance that she had crushed as she fled from Swiftcurrent Creek.

"O-OK," she agreed, sniveling unattractively. "I won't say a word of it." She paused, looking down at the carcass Kaskara had given her. There was a little bit of meat left, and the bones needed chewing. "Thank you for being so understanding.. I just feel like the worst woman in the world. I panicked. I don't know how I will explain that to him."

Sure! New one soon! :)

Kaskara smiled sadly at her friend, wondering how on earth she had gotten herself so entangled in her brother's love life. It probably had to do with the fact that she was friends with Bazi first, before she knew her brother even fancied her. If things had been different, perhaps Kas would have tried to stay away from the white dove; but as it stood, Kaskara owed her life to Bazi, and had sworn to protect her and the creek from all its enemies.

"I don't judge people based on their rash decisions. I judge them based on the ones they make to correct their mistakes." Kas smiled again and shuffled closer to nuzzle Bazi, hoping that their friendship was still solid. "We all make mistakes, big and small. It is how we deal with them afterward that truly shows what we value in life." Kas had every hope that Bazi would make amends with Scimitar. She just hoped her brother would be understanding.