Ocean's Breath Plateau deadbeat

For @Krypton~

Lucani was close to death. She had been ill for weeks, and when the plague had hit and the consequences persevered, her health had plummeted. Her short grey fur was scraggly and her ribs were showing, and when she spoke it was with a soft croak. But she was alive, still, albeit painfully so — she survived off dead locusts and vast quantities of fresh water, which if nothing else could at least soothe her hunger pangs. Lasher had caught her a fish, but she had given it away, silently and self-righteously refusing to eat food when it could be given to young pups or pregnant mothers. And so she was wasting away, and point-blank refused to ponder on this, instead continuing a very slow trudge from potential herb cache to potential herb cache. Every day she did this without thought or musing.

Today she wandered over the border, no less, perhaps as some kind of starved delusion or perhaps because she had smelt something promising off to the west. Either way, the towering stick-insect dragged herself very slowly onwards, scruffy muzzle low in search of something that was either there or not there.

SO SO SORRY FOR THE DELAY D:

Exploring was a favorite time. The pups were growing strong, and Krypton had decided to go and scout a little bit near the coast. She had encountered one sea-wolf, Pearl. Perhaps she would see her again? Well, whenever that would happen, she would be ready.

What she wasn't ready for though, was a mission that was unknown to her. She was wandering a bit close to a pack land, but still respectively away. What she could smell though was a scent that was not a sea wolf. It brought her a bit closer to the marker, and she decided to let out a very loud chuff. It would alert any wolf that she was near, along with her heavy steps.

She took one step in, but quickly jumped back in fear of a pack wolf coming in.

dw~ ^__^ @Trick, please feel free to jump in whenever if you fancy! In the meantime, we'll continue just Lucani and Krypt.

Panting lightly, her dry tongue adding to the hoarseness of her irregular breaths, Lucani ventured onwards, slow and aimless. Her hunger had pushed her into vague delusion, but she silently insisted that something was here... or there... or anywhere...

Dead on her paws, she stopped when she saw a stranger. Lucani looked at her. Tall and imposing though she'd once been, Lucani was so ill now she seemed half her old height, and was no threat to the wolf moving closer to Donnelaith's borders. She tried to say something, but then she began to slowly collapse, desperately trying to stay on her paws but failing miserably.

The wolf in the border lands took a look at Krypton. She felt scared, fearing this wolf was apart of the pack and would call for back up since Krypton coud be considered intruding. However, she collapsed right before the irises of the giant.

She was stuck for a second, having to decide whether or not she should help the wolfess. Feeling her moral compass point to good, Krypton complied with no resist. She ran at the other, soon examining her closely and trying to figure out what was causing her pain. She looked frail and weak, Krypton felt 100 lbs on each shoulder. 

"Are you sick?" She asked frantically, soon looking at each angle and point of the body. She would need to figure out the problem, and quick. If the wolf had enough strength to talk, perhas she would be able to tell the healer what the problem was.

One day in the future she did not feel she had, Lucani would dare think back on this and realise how frightening she looked. She was not imposing in the way she'd once been, smooth and towering and regal; no, she was frightening because she was death. Emaciated, shattered, ragged, and yet still on her paws, like a zombie with unfinished business.

Though she was barely on her paws now, slipping to the ground and only dimly recognising the words of this stranger, who was either here or not here. Mm but beyond help, girl, she croaked weakly, and gave a telling cough. Something was down there, something was inside her, tormenting her ruthlessly and trying to kill her dead.

She was not fairing well, for her words shook the brute to the core. Krypton shakily stepped forward, seeing how the wolf was so close to falling. Having knowledge with plants, she would help the woman in any way she could. her moral compass forced her to look around in fear of being caught.

with a trembling voice, she looked down to the woman. "L-lay down" she instructed softly, hoping the wolf would heed her words. "I'm going to help you, o-okay?" she asked, soon trying to examine her in the best way possible. There was no physical injury, so any kind of wound treatment was crossed off. Perhaps it was just weakness from starvation, or maybe even something she had ingested. Krypton feared that time was running out and she wouldn't be able to save this one.

Almost already flat on the ground, it was only too easy to obey the stranger's words. She lay awkwardly, one foreleg folding beneath her chest, tongue lolling as she panted dryly. Lucani was dimly aware that this was not quite a dream, but it was some sort of in-between. She was dying: of this she was aware, and also of the concept that there was no hope. She considered the idea, though, in some broken manner, and natural instinct as a healer allowed her to go along with it. You can... try... to help me, she croaked. There's something in me, something... I've been made to consume. Something. For weeks, however. It's inside, and stays there. A fevered version of a medical brief.

It was something that the woman consumed that made her this way, Krypton could feel time race against her as she heard the weak voice speak. For weeks though, Krypton feared that it might be too late for her to help or at least save this woman. But she couldn't give up on her, no not just yet. She licked her lips, feeling anxiety nibble on her fur. She nodded her head, to show that she was at least following what she was saying.

Looking around quickly, Krypton's eyes looked towards the dirt in search of some kind of herb. Chervile or Snake root, those were two that could treat the stomach pains and poison. Those were the two that she needed, and fast. Yet, the faminine had caused most plants to die, and the only thing that Krypton could find was probably Snake root.

Trotting away a few feet, she began to dig frantically, pulling up as much dirt as she could with her large paws. Dirt flew around her as the crater grew larger and larger, until something came after a good 13 minutes of digging. They were there! Perfectly in tact too! With her teeth careful not to puncture the roots, Krypton gently pulled them up and was able to bring them close to the other.

She examined her once more, thinking of a way to clear her stomach. The poison could be counteracted, but what if it doesn't work? She had the roots, but what if it wasn't enough. As much as Krypton regretted this decision, she would have to shove something down the other's throat and make her vomit. Walking closer, she settled the roots down and nuzzled the other's shoulder with her nose.

"This will be the hardest task, but I need you to vomit" she said, not wanting to waste any more time. "Vomit up what you can, even if it hurts. We gotta get this thing out of you" she said, gently moving her nose to the stomach. "I'll help you by adding pressure, but you have to vomit whatever is poisoning you." Krypton wondered about what this wolf ate, perhaps somekind of toxic plant from her prey? 

She couldn't quite put her paw on it, and decided to leave it be for now. Knowing the poison wasn't as important than sasving the wolf's life. With soft pressure being added, Krypton encouraged the wolf to give up her stomach.

When the girl went away for a moment, Lucani had no way of knowing if she was abandoned. The loose and invisible threads that linked them as healers told her that the stranger would not abandon her, though: it was not in the blood of a healer to do so. But something like hope told her that she was being abandoned, left to die in relative peace, and not go through the indignity of what she subconsciously already knew was coming.

So she remained, dying and woefully unabandoned, lying now on her side, her tongue lolling on the ground and picking up dust, though she was too weak to reel it back in. Her sense of smell had weakened the least out of all her senses, and Lucani blinked up now to see that the girl had returned with some medicinal roots. If these roots don't work, they'll kill me, she gave her medical opinion, and thought she'd said it outloud but had not.

Death or inevitable pain and humiliation... followed by an eventual return to health. Both options would be a release. She had to do this. Mustering what little strength remained to her, Lucani obeyed her healer and began to eat. Very slowly, very wretchedly.

She had obeyed, and Krypton watched her consume what she was told. Seeing the trouble the woman was going through, she felt pressure weigh her shoulders down. Hopefully the roots would kick in quickly, and soon the woman would vomit it up. Luckily, Krypton didn't grab all of them. She left a few more, knowing that once the roots entered, the stomach would hopefully be upset and want to make her puke.

"Now" she instructed, adding more pressure to Lucani. "Vomit, anything that is there, get it out. I have more roots, but we have to get rid of that poison" It sounded confusing, but if she ate somethingm her stomach might make her vomit. Then the other roots would be able to actually fight off the toxins.

What hovered in this pair's immediate future was a little bit of body horror. She had vomited in the near past, she had already evacuated her stomach, minutes (she believed) after taking the poison. It had been in the presence of her then-Alpha, and possibly with the aid of another healer (she could not be sure). But it hadn't been enough. Whatever dwelt within her, and she was sure it was something, was too deep and too big... stuck.

But this stranger was right, and Lucani hadn't considered it properly until now — she'd been in denial that she had to return to this route. It would be the most undignified moment of her life, and disgusting, too, for this passing samaritan... if she was even real. Lucani was so feverish now that she was having difficulty distinguishing this as reality.

For whatever reason, however, the medical nature of it all had come into sharp focus, and curiously so. She tried to say the following, as she began to feel very nauseous: It will not be enough. I need you to hit me hard in the stomach. Or pick me up and drop me. I need some serious force, or I will not vomit hard enough.

But what she actually said was: Need to... you need to force...

The stranger needed help, her short words making Krypton nod her head quickly and lay her paw on the belly of the woman. She left one paw on the ground toe tabalize with the others, while her other would add enough pressure to hopefully encourage the she-wolf to give up her stomach.

"on three" she said, making sure that the woman was ready. "One...two...three" she said, before giving the woman a heavy push of her paw against her flat tummy. if that was not enough, Krypton have her another push of pressure just to be sure. She removed her paw, looking to see if Lucani threw up or not.

Pressure, pain, and ungodly discomfort then — oh hell it happened. Lucani choked and heaved like she had never before, her ribs barely able to take it, her throat raw and agonised, her eyes stinging and specks of blood gleaming in her vomit. So horrible was this, she wished she could howl for the end. But on it went, her cruel sickness.

Until at last, ten minutes later, among bile came forth a furball as if from a cat, small and compact, and within it little hints of a poisonous plant that had remained there within her, all this time, leaking out poison trickle by trickle...

After the grueling moments of having to hack everything up, the slender woman had finished her task. Krypton breathed out, relieved to know that the dreadful task was over.

she overlooked the woman once more, smiling ghostly. "You will feel better now" she said softly, making sure that none of the poison was entering the body again.

"I will help you home" she said, going to the other side swiftly and nudging the she wolf up. "Is your home here? Or farther?" She asked.

She was trembling uncontrollably, but it was not a feverish tremble — it was simply part of what had just happened to her. Lucani cast her eyes away from the vile contents of her body, ashamed. If she looked, she would find that perilous furball, but she didn't look.

By... river... she whispered hoarsely. If this miraculous stranger placed her gently by the river, out of sight, Lucani could rest there and drink until she was strong enough to return to Donnelaith. She didn't want any of them to see her yet. She felt humiliated... but alive.

By river? Krypton nodded her head, glad that the woman knew exactly where her pack was and where she needed to be. "I'll get you there, but I need you to find your strength," she said, looking over the other wolf. "Stand and walk, lean on me for support" she intructed, soon lowering herself and offering a shoulder for Lucani to lean on. Hopefully the river wasn't far away, the gristled woman looked exhausted as it was.

Thank you so much for taking part in this plot! :) Please feel free to fade with your next post~

"... find your strength." She heard it as an instruction, and it brought her to her paws. Lucani was tall and shaky, and therefore difficult to manoeuvre, but she was also as skinny as a stick right now. The gentlest nudge would send her in that direction. Off they went, the saviour and the saved, and Lucani would wait wherever she was placed and slowly — very slowly — regain some semblance of self.

Slow and steady, the duo quietly made their way to the rier that was inside of the land. The salty breeze blew through Krypton's fur, cooling her heating body subtly. Often her eyes looked over to Lucani, making sure she was at least comfortable. After what seemed to be forever, Krypton finally let her down by the side of the river. Gently with her muzzle, she nudged the woman's shoulder in farewell before setting off towards the mountain.

Thanks for having me!