Redhawk Caldera þannig týnist tíminn

Life crawled by slowly for five month old Eljay. He didn't like life, and whenever he wasn't near mommy and daddy he felt terrible. Without realising it himself, he did actually improve; sometimes he was alone for a little while when mommy and daddy weren't there without completely freaking out. Still, he was easy to drive to tears and heartbreak, particularly when it concerned his separation anxiety. His mother's guilt and frustration fed his subconscious, too, as he absorbed the emotions without even realising which made him feel more anxious and on edge a lot.

The sickness diverted Eljay from the daily struggle with which he crawled through life. It did also increase how easily he was triggered into a fit or sobbing and he was extra whiny what with how terrible he felt. He also couldn't howl to Wifi, who was now gone, even if he wasn't sure she could hear his howls from her new pack.

Eljay was feeling pretty terrible and he lay just outside of the den, shivering on the ground while he occasionally let out a squeaky sneeze and slime dribbled from his nose.

Raven had been a busy bee since the sickness had spread to much of the pack.  Somehow she had managed to avoid coming down with it herself, though she figured it was probably because she was constantly preparing remedies for others and was thus fairly well-protected from the virus.  Whenever she wasn't directly helping someone, she was out searching for any plants that might still be hanging on despite winter's creeping approach.  Much of the vegetation was brown and dead, but in the lowlands and thick forests, she could still find some areas of vibrant greenery.

She'd been so busy since the onset of the sickness that she hadn't seen much of Eljay lately, so she thought she might drop by his family's densite and see how he was doing.  She wondered if the cold had gotten to him too, and she didn't have to wait long to find out.  The sounds of his sneezes reached her long before she saw him, and though she tried to smile for him, it was hard when she saw just how truly miserable the boy looked.  "Hey, Eljay," she greeted him softly, her tail brushing across the backs of her legs as it wagged.  "It's got you too, huh?"

Eljay rested his head on his paws and loudly snorted occasionally to snort in his slime. It dripped right out again, slobbering over his paws, and he barely lifted his head when Raven came into view. She looked pretty good herself, though Eljay barely registered this, feeling pretty terrible himself.

At Ravens sort-of question the boy nodded, and he snorted some mucus back up into his nose again. "Hi Baben," he said, though her name came out all weird. He opened his mouth to ask where mommy and daddy were, but then he just rested his head upon paws again, looking sniffly.

"Baben".  Haha!  So cute!  :)

One of the first things the Redhawk noticed was that Elwood and Finley were nowhere to be seen, a fact which prompted her to raise an eyebrow in mild curiosity (and maybe a little surprise) when the first words out of Eljay's mouth weren't demanding to know where his parents were.  Having babysat Eljay many times in the past months, she knew him well enough to know that even though his parents' scents were still quite strong in the area, that didn't matter to the boy.

She drew near him and then laid down in a sphinx-like position, resting her angled head on her lanky forelegs.  Gentle yellow eyes studied the poor kid's face, noting his runny nose and red, watery eyes.  Dried snot was crusted pretty much all over him, and Raven felt a pang of sympathy.  "Y'know, I might can help you out a little," she ventured.  "I know a few things you could eat that will make your nose less snotty 'n' stuff."

Eljay looked up at Raven as she suggested that she could help him out with the snotty nose. He snorted loudly as he looked up at her with a miserable-looking expression on his face that betrayed how terrible he felt. He looked like he was either contemplating the options, or was just staring out into nothingness.

"Otay," he said eventually. He looked back at the den, suddenly realising that mommy and daddy weren't around and feeling worried about them. He had little energy left to panic about it though, since his sickness consumed most of his energy.

Raven smiled when he agreed to her idea, quietly excited that she would have the opportunity to help ease another packmate's suffering.  She knew how fussy Eljay could be, so getting him to eat a nasty, bitter-tasting plant might prove a challenge. But then again, he looked so miserable right now that he might be willing to try anything.

"We're gonna look for a plant. It's called chicory. It has a real tall stem and pretty little blue flowers. You have to chew it up and it tastes real nasty but it makes you feel better."  She rose to her feet and invited him to do the same. And, sensing his discomfort over his parents' absence, she added with a grin, "We can look for your mom and dud too!"

Eljay didn't really feel like eating something that tasted nasty, and he pulled a 'yuck' face as she said it, almost like he was eating it right now. Then the boy came into motion and waited for Raven to lead the way to wherever they were going to look. "Bhere's it g'ow?" he asked nasally, looking around and finding nothing of the description near the vicinity of the densite. Raven had mentioned mommy and daddy which caused Eljay's chest to tighten a little, because he remembered when they went looking for mommy that she had been gone-gone and that it took a really long time to return. "Dey'b nob fab, bight?" he asked and he looked at Raven, panic shining in his emotion-filled eyes.