Raven's Watch we're terrified of what's around the corner

As she ran, she took stock of her injuries as best she could. It was painful to set her paws down for any great lengths of time, and so Tavi's pace was infrequent. She knew she needed to go, and go fast, but could not make her body comprehend and obey. Blood smeared her pelt in a myriad of places. It was entirely likely that she would be left with physical changes to remind her of her stupidity -- but hadn't she wanted this? To get in a fight and lose whatever was inside of her? But it was not worth losing her life; had she done this on purpose or had it simply come to pass by accident? Tavi's mind was a whirl of thoughts and fears - mostly fears - and the adrenaline hardly cleared things up.

She had tearing to her legs - all of them. Her forelimbs, from when the white beast tried to grab her upon initial contact, and her hindquarters from the collective rage of both attackers; the dark-headed beast had she had managed to score Tavi's lower back as she escaped. Chunks of fur were missing from the scruff of her neck as well, but those she did not notice yet. It was luck that fed her pursuers fur instead of flesh, she thought. Tavi ran until she could not run any more, and the blood from her wounds was soaking down to her toes -- she was a morbid sight indeed -- and when she stopped, it was in the shadow of a high ridge. A small, clear lake of alpine water stretched out before her, yet all she could do was collapse at the edge of it, panting hard and wishing the coast wolves had finished the job.

As Warbone obeyed the command given to him ("Get out of my sight..."), he unintentionally left the territory entirely, and he was twenty miles away from Sleeping Dragon before he realized of himself that it was the last time he would be commanded as such. He did not believe in the word timing, there was no such thing to this wolf. It was do or die for every breath and the one time he had allowed himself the generosity of sparing too much emotion, the whole thing had blown up in his face; scarring him more deeply than any physical wound he could ever receive. He knew he was not meant for the position he had put himself in, and he had done it regardless. Since he only had himself to blame, he didn't blame anyone at all.

Things were as they were. And he didn't honestly believe in coincidences either. Because how could it be coincidence that while trying to find another route to the shore— as opposed to going around past Dragoncrest Cliffs— he would end up embarking on an unfortunately longer route that would lead him along an impassable ravine, around the bowl of a lake through Thunder Dome and down along The Wall, all just in time to come across the smell of coagulated wolf blood. Layered by something vaguely familiar...

The hunter followed the scent, finding a collapsed figure in the lowlight cradling the clear lake. He came as close as five yards, extending his muzzle towards the torn she-wolf, and recognizing her as Reek's nameless mate. His tail flicked, and he stepped back with dull eyes glowing, certain she would react as she had the first time he'd laid eyes on her— ever more so now that she was injured.

The woman's heart-rate was too high; she felt as if her heart would rip free of her body, perhaps plunge in to the lake and desecrate it. Her breathing was so quick and labored that she was oblivious to everything around her - all she heard was her own heart beating, her own breath going in and out, in and out, and the pounding in her head. But soon Tavi is not alone. Whether she is aware of it or not, there is a stranger in her midst - someone who lurks too close for comfort. She doesn't notice him until he is too close. He is reaching for her and she, finally taking notice, is on her feet and spinning to face him before any harm can further befall her. She is weak, though. Disoriented from the blood loss. Instead of defending herself (though her teeth do shine), she stumbles back and slides an errant paw in to the lake. The cold of it shocks her more than the appearance of the wolf; she lets out a yip of surprise and scampers forward a few steps, drawing closer to the stranger despite not wishing to. Tavi's body is rigid as she settles, her fur standing on-end in an attempt to dissuade further attack -- and then she realizes that this is not a coast wolf at all. This is a Dragon, but that does little to calm her nerves.

You're far from home, she comments through her teeth, unable to enunciate due to how tense and afraid she is. Still, words leak from her, staining the air the way her blood stains everything else, Dragon. She would have said more; she wanted to say something, and not just give way with him so close. What did he intend to do? But it was a question she could not ask - Tavi was swaying as she spoke, and now she was collapsing upon the soil, another dizzy spell taking her down before the stranger had a chance to.

Warbone watched the scene of events in slow motion, his own inherent confusion about the fairer sex rooting him tensely to the spot. His expression— not so rigid after all— had morphed into genuine uncertainty, complete with broadened eyes and his stern unibrow arched in question. As she came to a standstill, seemingly back in control of her motor skills, he noticed the way she trembled, and his expression resumed a plated stoicism as his body language loosened.

He made no immediate move for or against her, but through some unbidden magnetism— the muscle memory of a pack mentality, he supposed— his body wished to draw nearer. Unwittingly, he took a single step towards her, ears lifting as she addressed him. Frowning, he considered returning the comment, but realized then that he was not in the mood for petty banter. The name Dragon settles uncomfortably on his shoulders, and he took a breath that heaved deep inside his chest. "I am Dragon no more," he said without great inflection. The scent was not old on him. Faded perhaps, from the terrain and nondescript waterways he had crossed, but not all gone; she was right to assume he still was. "Just Warbone will do," he hesitated on a breath, as if something just occurred to him, and then he said: "or Arkham, if you prefer." Curious.

He looked over her swaying body, but didn't comment on her wounds after his unabashed gaze returned to her sad and subdued face. "You should sit," he advised casually; and then to encourage her, he reclined slowly to his haunches and watched her plaintively.

Whether he was enlisted among the Dragons or not, Tavi still could not trust him. Her current state aside, he was a stranger to her. She did hear him speak through her waves of muddying pain and disorientation, and even mustered enough coherence to slur, Mmn, and you should -- you should -- blank. She had no finisher to that response. Instead she sank to her haunches almost on cue with him, her head lowering with the hope that the world would stop spinning around her.

Ark, she murmured next, though this statement also threatened to fade in to obscurity - she rescued it just in time. Stay 'way from the coast. Buncha assholes. Even though her current state was her own damn fault. All of it. The wounds, the pregnancy, the foray to the coast... At some point Tavi had forgotten that her life was her own to control. She had let it persist with a life of its own, throwing sticks through her metaphorical tires and thrusting her in to the dirt. Tavi breathed a heavy sigh, her face scrunching somewhat when she tasted the salt on the air.

And then, quite suddenly in fact, she remembered the Larksong - she remembered Reek. Those tidbits of her life had slipped her mind once she had found this lake and the wolf prowling near it. The woman jolted back up to her paws as if possessed and announced,I godda go home, before falling right back down on her crimson-smeared bottom.

She was delirious, and he watched in a sad sort of bemusement as she struggled to gain her bearings. It gave him an opportunity to assess her wounds without her feeling scrutinized by him. Pale eyes glided across her steel-gray body, pausing against the places where red and black smeared her coat. Gifts from the coast wolves, if he had understood her warning correctly. Warbone's tail continued ticking back and forth in the dirt, as if counting the time he would sit there, or counting down to something. He remembered the gold she-wolf he had tended to some weeks or so before, and he felt much the same inclination now. Because despite appearances and an unwillingness to be commanded, Warbone wasn't without empathy. He simply picked the times he wished to show it.

"Home," he repeated in a huff, as if it were a word like fairies that needed to be treated with blatant scorn. "You need rest," he insisted, getting to his feet suddenly and stepping close to her, just out of the range of her teeth. "And something on your stomach. Now, I can help you, but I will not force my assistance upon you..." he murmured, hovering near, preparing to touch her— tend to her wounds.

When he parroted the word back to her, she felt her spirit wither, just a touch. Maybe it was because of her delirious state, but Tavi's mind had somehow muddled so many things together. She had thought not of just Larksong, but of the Maplewood; she thought of Reek and Saena, of foolish little Ditty; the sight of the grotto's clear lake with spires of maple trees standing tall at the center. The home she envisioned was not a unified place - it wasn't a place at all except in her mind - and in remembering why she had run from it, she felt as if a piece of herself had been cleaved away. Everything ached, from her extremities to her heart, all because of her own stupidity.

He was right, of course. Tavi was in no state to travel. Arkham's insisting tone was quiet but firm, and she obeyed. Instead of rallying against him and his touch, Tavi felt like she was melting in to the ground along with her blood - it was a struggle to stay awake from all that she had lost - but she did nod, sullenly obedient while he tended to her.

She nodded, relenting, sinking down into the earth as he came to meet her, his nose and tongue gently insistent against the area behind her ears. The swipes of Warbone's muzzle were reassuring at first, carefully placed in the tender areas a wolf found most pleasing to the touch. He moved to the fringes of her neck wound, testing here and there for tenderness before bathing the wound completely. He repeated this motion with what wounds he could see and reach, until she had relaxed completely or fallen asleep at his side. He stopped after a while, sighing deeply and briefly setting his head down on his own paws, taking a break from the mindless work of tending to the nameless Grotto alpha.

He got up very suddenly, nibbling the fur behind her exposed ear to rouse her. "Get something to drink," he said as she stirred, tossing his thick nose towards the water. "I am going to hunt, but I will return for you." Warbone turned without waiting for her response, padding off into the shaded afternoon in search of a meal for the injured she-wolf.

He was swift with his attention once permission was granted, and Tavi found it.. Pleasing. Surprisingly so. Perhaps her desperation to return home, to find Reek, would be waylay-ed here. But that thought passed quickly. She was not remorseful for it either, as she held the firm belief that Reek would one day pass her over for another, as he had done to Saena. It did not bother her in this moment to think of it - but as Arkham got to work tending to her wounds, she was shocked out of her thoughts by the stabbing pain of his tongue or nose upon her tender flesh. She drifted, and time spun out around her.

Eventually they were sequestered together upon the bank, and Tavi was drifting, but she found comfort in his proximity. Even the dying scent of the mountains upon him did not dissuade her; she leaned against him, her head carefully nestled in his fur until the man stood up, abruptly pulling away. Tavi murmured unpleasantness in response to his voice, but as she raised her head to watch him, she was seeing him disperse from her. I am going to hunt, but I will return for you.

She dragged herself to her feet, wobbled the few steps she needed to reach the water, and then slumped down again - her snout touching upon the cold and hardly reacting, initially. Here she would drink as he commanded - drink, and drift, and think about everything that had gone wrong.

Hours passed in Warbone's absence. He gave chase to many things, but grew more and more unsuccessful in the dying light. Dusk was upon him before he realized it, and complete darkness blanketed the disappointed male as he began making a beeline for the place he had left the beaten she-wolf. His back sagged, paws heavy as the weight of his failure settled like an uncomfortable suit of armor across his body. On his way, a stream glistened under the moon, a shining snake weaving through the trees whose trunks looked slathered by ink in the night. The idea of fish came to him then, and patiently, Warbone spent an hour in the water until he finally managed to catch something— a pitifully sized fish, as it was, he found it better than absolutely nothing.

The male returned with his dangling catch, damp from his chest down, and not knowing whether or not she would still be there as he arrived.

The time did pass slowly for her. Agonizingly so. Thoughts filled her head, interrupted by other thoughts, and soon she began to wonder if he would return at all. Maybe he was still a Dragon after all - and what better way to ensure the survival of the mountain wolves than to let a rival Alpha die? Tavi knew she wasn't going to die, somehow. Maybe because she could still feel the pain of her torn skin, or maybe because Arkham had tended to her - even for that limited time, it had been a boon having someone there to aid her.

Tavi did struggle without her companion. She drank her fill when bid, but then was left to her own devices - and soon enough, attempted to escape, though it was unwise of her. She staggered alongside the lake and tried to orient herself based on its position, but as soon as she was up, she was swaying - then down again. By the third or fourth attempt she gave up, regretfully slinking back to the spot along the lake's edge where Arkham had left her. She drifted in to an uneasy half-sleep, then.

When he returned, she was roused from this state by the sound of his steps; then, sleepily seeking him in the dark, she spied the shine of the fish. Rather than take it from him - not that she could - Tavi waited for him to drift closer; and yet even then, she was too tired and dulled by her condition to have any semblance of an appetite.

Post from my phone, sorry for any mistakes!

Though not in the position he had left her in, she had (much to his surprised relief) remained in the area upon his return. He padded to her side, depositing the fish in front of her paws. He expected her to be hungry, but wasn't insulted when she instead seemed perfectly disinterested in feeding herself. He thought maybe she didn't like fish, and it bothered him to think that he had failed this task regardless of the time he'd spent on it. But she would eat when the feeling became great enough to her, he supposed, so he took the spot at her side, keeping his comments and musings to himself for now. 

He lay close, not touching her but available as a headrest if she needed or wanted it. The heavy wolf breathed deep, a content sound as ever one could make, and he rested his head on his paws, keeping his ears alert for her movements as he peered in silence over the lake. 

His thoughts wondered at this area. He had moved through it so recalled the trails he had traveled during his hunt. Raven's Watch was an ideal place for him to stay for a while. In particular he was fond of how The Wall offered both protection and a saving grace for the place it loomed over, and he found himself wondering how long he would stay here.

He approached her, and instead of flinching back from him or baring her teeth, she just sat there quietly. The warmth of his body next to her own was a comfort. Tavi couldn't help but wonder why he aided her at all but she was much too tired to ask. Instead of speak, she slouched sideways and let her wounds press in to his caramel fur, bothered briefly by the stinging sensation in her flesh as it was poked or pulled; but eventually she was settled, and they would both wait out the night.

Tavi's head nodded as she drifted off to sleep, though it took a few tries before she was fully imbibed with slumber. The slightest sound made her startle awake, her nose tipping up as she sucked in a hasty breath. Her eyes never opened wider than halfway, then slits, then at all - and she dozed completely.

In her sleep, she thought she was still running -- the sand was sifting under her, sliding in clumps beneath her frenzied paws, but she never moved too far. She could feel teeth set in to her skin. It was like they were always there, ready to take a piece, to bite and tear and pull her apart. The sensation wasn't painful. It wasn't anything. And when she looked back at her attackers - expecting to see the dark faced woman or the white wolf of the coast - she only saw the familiar face of Reek; many faces, with many teeth, reaching to take everything from her. And she would run and slip across the sand until the sand itself gave way, becoming a great black pit, with only darkness around her and the many eyes of her partner dotting the world like stars ---

She jolted awake then, not knowing how long she had slept; but it was not a proper sleep at all, and Tavi was left more exhausted upon waking than before.

Warbone was partial to moments like this: everything quietly disarming. If he were alone, he would be plagued by his own suspicions, too wary of peace that didn't last to actually relax. But with company, even a companion as damaged as his own, Warbone found himself unbothered at her side. Instead of thinking about what was beyond them, he was distracted by her twitching and the moments where she would jolt awake, only to fall asleep again. She did this several times, and he stirred, marveling each time until the final time, when she seemed to wake up completely. 

"What was your nightmare?" he asked then, after a long moment of watching her out the corner of his drab, olive eye. "I might can tell you what it meant."

She shifted her weight, but found that no amount of movement would ease the brief spell of fear that had gripped her in the dream place. Specifics fled her quickly, but not the entire thing. Tavi was silent for some time, likely collecting her thoughts as they scattered, and lamely answered, It's gone already.

But a moment passed and she, unable to sleep again, gathered what she could and mumbled, Lots of teeth. I was running but going nowhere, she knew what that meant even without his help; at least the running portion. The teeth could easily be explained by her recent encounter with a pack of wolves, but not the face they all seemed to carry. Faces -- one face, over and over. My partner. Felt like... Being eaten. An off-putting image. Accompanied with the feeling of dread she still carried, Tavi doubted sleep would claim her again.

She dismissed him at first, which the male wasn't beset by, but he watched as she hunkered down into him again, and was surprised when her voice rose again after a while. The details were few, but sufficient. His thoughts were clung particularly hard to her last words, and it was upon them that he settled his thoughts. Her "parter", to him, meant Reek, but he was not keen on having her confirm or deny his guess -- it was irrelevant to the advice he had. "You do not trust them," he revealed at length. 

"If you feel the way I suspect you do, then it is probably the reason you are out here and not in the Grotto." He did not ask her what happened or why she was alone -- her dreams gave enough reason for that -- but he did ask: "will you be returning there, in the morning?" There was something in his tone, apprehension maybe, but it was a sentiment that send lost coming from a wolf like Warbone. Like it was an unfathomable emotion that he couldn't possibly have. 

It was still several hours yet until daybreak.

OH! 100 for joo <3

ooo hundred post i am honored <3

She opened her mouth as if to speak, to counter what little he had garnered from her explanation, but closed her mouth after a moment. He was right. Tavi did not trust Reek as much as she once did. There was history between them - soon children, she thought idly - but the words Saena had thrown at her also rang true. Reek did not linger long on those he fancied, and she suspected that he would just as quickly abandon her as he had abandoned Saena. She did not speak of these things — beyond Arkham having no right to know, it really did not concern him in the slightest. But his next question surprised her.

I would like to. Tavi drawls quietly, and drops her head so that her chin rests softly next to the man. As enviable as it was that he could roam freely without the Dragons (which she desperately wished she could do now, even after that failure upon the coast), she knew that returning was her only option. The woman gave another sullen sigh, and states flatly, I... must. We are expecting. It is not something she wishes to think about, but Tavi knows that her body is going through changes, and that her only hope to survive the ordeal of her pregnancy is to return to the grotto. Whether the stranger beside her is aware of the meaning of the words doesn't really matter -- she's tired, and is likely to ramble until her spirit is calm again.

Unable to identify the exact feeling he felt upon her admittance, Warbone ignored it entirely, focusing instead on what she said next, which threw him somewhat for a loop. She was pregnant, a complication beyond complications in her particular situation, and the wolf grew a little tense at her side. "And you cannot trust your mate?" The rhetorical question had been asked in such an unintentionally derogatory fashion, that he felt no need to follow up with why that was a terrible way to live. His tone had implied enough of his opinion that he didn't want to further beat a corpse. Warbone shifted, attempting to assuage the curl of his muscles by leaning more of his weight into her, pressing gently. And sure enough, the warmth of her body soothed him, and the male relaxed.

"You do not have to go back," he mused at length, weighing his own words on his tongue. "I could protect you." It wasn't as if he had any other responsibilities that needed tending to— and what kind of life was a wolf living if he was not serving his own species? Warbone was self-sufficient but he was not selfish. He chose the life of loner because it was less frustrating with a lack of angles and hidden dimensions that came with pack life, but that did not mean he wasn't suited for a life opposite of this. "I know you have no reason to trust me, but neither have I given you a reason not to. Your brood will need a pack to be raised in, so I suspect you would return to the Grotto after a time, but..."'

He considered that he could start his own pack; find stragglers to rally into his realm— Wildfire explicitly came to mind— but he did not bring up his imperial half-thoughts to the injured wolf. She had enough on her plate just avoiding her partner as it was. "As long as you need to be free, I can be there for you."

Hearing him put a voice to her doubt made her fur bristle in silent defiance, though Tavi would not confirm anything for him. As alien as he seemed, Arkham was showing himself to be quite intelligent indeed - a trait she would not have otherwise noticed, especially in a Dragon. The fact he had abandoned (or been removed from) the rival pack was not lost on her, although Tavi did not notice the significance until he made his bizarre offer.

Initially she agreed - it was an easy option. Just dont go back! - but as he continued, all Tavi could do was stare blankly at him. How strange. She had no idea how to react, and only sat there.

Then, she spoke. Quiet as before, but not because of weakness now. She was thoughtful as if truly considering. Maybe.

Warbone snorted, but it was an approving sort of noise. It was all he could ask of her, that she consider the proposal, and he would manage with either decision she made. For now, he was content to let her stew over it, with no expectation of an answer soon. If he were being honest with himself, his idea had been born of loneliness and a desire to dedicate himself to something. Being a Dragon had not suited him, but he should have known that before his stay. He had left his own birthplace, full of figurative dragons, because it wasn't the lifestyle he saw for himself. Finding himself in another pack of dragons had not been a wise settlement. 

The wolf yawned, craning his neck so that he could lay his head carefully across her forelegs -- quite intrusive of him, but Warbone had cradled and cleaned her for the better part of the afternoon -- and he felt no unease there at first. Conversationally, he mumbled something near the fur of her chest. "What is your name?"

Tavi was grasping at straws. She needed a way out of the situation with Reek, but she couldn't fathom a way around her ailment. It was an ailment, wasn't it? This pregnancy. It was something she desired as desperately as she desired a cold, or rabies, or any number of things - which was to say, not at all. Perhaps at some point her biology would kick in, and she would want whatever was growing inside of her; for now though, weak and overwhelmed though she was, Tavi had no inclination towards motherhood. She knew she did not love Reek to the extent he seemed to pine for her. She knew, too, that he would find someone else easily enough, should the desire arise. Tavi had never desired anything more than a way out, and that was precisely what Arkham presented to her.

It was only right he know her name — if he was so eager to protect her, to nurture whatever spawned of her union with Reek. She waited until he was settled, feeling the weight of his skull against her limbs as he used her sphinx-style paws as a pillow; with a turn of her head she placed her chin across the crown of his own head, and together they formed a totem pole. Octavia, she responded, and felt herself begin to drift once more in to the first stages of sleep.