The Sentinels dysphoria

The scent of Blackrock, of Skellige, was still hanging in her pelt. She'd been covered in it when she left the Bay, and had been unable to rid herself of it during her foray into the wilderness.

There had not been much to see. More land. More emptiness. Hunger.

Mannoah was in a bad way. Her hips and spine were jutting, rawboned, and her belly seemed to distend unnaturally from her lanky body. She did not look pregnant so much as she looked diseased, but this was lost on the woman. Her current state was lost, everything was lost as she stumbled back toward the Bay, to Skellige, to the Red Woman and her pups. To the Familiar Place, to the only place she knew. The scent was strong on the borders, and in her madness, Mannoah did not realize that she was entering Donnelaith and not Blackrock. Had not been there for the opening of the borders.

Weak, delirious, Mannoah stumbled through the trees.

Recovery had taken longer than she expected and longer than she liked, but she had learned her lesson vicariously through Deirdre. She would not push herself. She was no good to anyone if she was injured herself. But at last even the stiffness from her dislocated shoulder was gone. Starbuck was back, and barring the unforseen, was not looking to hide away any longer.

The new open-border policy pleased her as much as it frightened her. She knew little of the bay wolves but through rumor and single encounters with its upper echelons. She did not like the thought that she would have to dodge Skellige in her home, but in the end she trusted Deirdre and Doe. 

Any trepidation was dismissed the moment she came upon the woman, her stomach grossly distended while her bones jutted in unnatural starvation. Starbuck would not shy away, though, and immediately called out to the woman. My dear, you do not look well, she said by way of greeting, excercising great care as she approached.

The words were meaningless, but Mannoah crept toward the sounds of kindness that came from the little she. Soft, entreating sounds came from the woman's throat. Pride had left her, and either way, she had never been too proud to beg.

"Ayudame," she whispered, her voice hoarse and thin. "Ayuda... por favor... Necesito comer..."

She couldn't remember the last time she ate, but the signs were clear on her body that it had been too long. No one had been able to understand her, thus far, but she prayed that this wolf would know what she needed.

The voice with which the woman uttered her request was but a spare rattle, and Starbuck whined in response. The woman was a pitiful sight, and what's more, her language was unfamiliar. My dear, you are far too thin, she said, knowing that it wasn't likely she'd be understood. She drew close enough to touch the woman, using gentle prods of her snout to encourage the woman to lie down. Rest and stay here, she urged. You must eat. I will find you something.

The small wolf murmured more kinds words. Mannoah basked in them, allowing herself to be nudged to the ground. It pleased her to be tended to - as much as she could be pleased, in her condition - and the woman's voice was lilting and sweet.

She laid on the ground, legs folded and brittle like the legs of a newborn lamb. Her long, snipey muzzle went to her paws, which she chewed insistently while waiting for the woman to reappear. They were cracked, bloody, and - most of all - itchy. Infection had set into them already, and instintively, Mannoah sought to eat away what was now unclean.

The women laid down easily, for which Starbuck was glad. The poor thing did not to be active now, and her paws seemed to be in terrible shape. Once she was certain her charge was going to stay in place, she left. She took the journey to the nearest cache at a sprint so that she was breathless by the time she arrived. The Seer searched for a suitable meal and found a half-eaten bird carcass that was still in good shape. This she took. As she returned, the body thumped against her chest, and she was happy to put it down when she returned to where she had left her charge. Hello, my dear, said she. I have brought this for you, but you mustn't eat it too quickly. To ensure that the woman would not do so, Starbuck tore some meat from the bird and placed it before her. Go on, she urged.