Otatso Wetlands 40 nights to sit and listen to that midnight train to memphis

A tumble on some loose rocks had left her shaken, sore, and ashamed. Alya consoled herself with the knowledge that these were not her mountains, and that she would never have misstepped on her home turf. Her mountains just wouldn't do that to her. But she was still embarrassed, and still a bit wobbly as she came down from the steppes and entered the valley for the first time.

There was a pack to the south, but Alya could already tell that it was not Easthollow. The location was wrong and the scent unfamiliar. She knew they were not north, so the only option was to go around the riverside pack and continue south. And she would do that as soon as she found her way out of the awful mire she'd stumbled into. The mud was thick and foul-smelled, and Alya was alarmed when she tried to take another step and found herself completely unable to lift her back leg - the one that had already been injured by her mountainside tumble.

Several hours later saw her in the same place, only several inches deeper in the mud. She was filthy, exhausted, and terrified by her predicament. There was no other choice - she was going to have to do something she hadn't done since she'd been a tiny slip of a girl.

"Help! Please, someone help me!"

Somehow, screaming for help only increased her terror.

the losses they had sustained were almost too much to bear. shale was gone, and the plains, too. what was once miles of rolling, golden hills had been reduced to a charred landscape, the fire fading with the blessed rain. aditya was working hard to pull his family back together, to try to carve out a new existence in the maplewood, but it was all heavy on his shoulders.

so he slipped away--at least for a little while.

he had intended to visit the herbalists' cache, which somehow remained unscathed, just like phoenix maplewood. but the faint, far-off cries of someone in the wetlands caught his attention, and, more alert to danger than usual, he raced to the sound, breath caught in his throat. he pushed his way through the mire, the yells growing louder and louder until he finally came upon a dark shape in the mud.

it was the moonspear girl, the one he'd encountered a couple times by that great mountain. she had never given him a name, which was sly of her, so he had no real way to address her. all he could do was forge ahead, stepping gingerly through the sucking mud. it looked as if she'd gotten a rear leg completely caught; she was utterly stuck.

"don't panic," he said quietly, examining the best way to remedy this predicament. "flailing around will only get you stuck more."

No one came. Inanely, she imagined Vaati somehow coming to her aide. He'd last been spotted nearer to Moonspear than this, but a wolf could travel, right? Alya wondered if he considered her worth saving, and then decided that he would likely attempt it either way, just to stay off of Hydra's shit list. Sisters were great like that.

Sitting there thinking about it was doing her no good. Alya gave a few more hoarse cries and tried to free herself once more, but her back leg would take no weight, and she had nothing to grab onto in order to pull herself free. Her front paws found no purchase in the mire, and for all her wriggling, she still felt as though a skeletal fist was curled around her ankle. Suddenly, she imagined some giant, loathesome raccoon trapped beneath the mud, its fingers worn to the bone by its attempts to escape. It had grabbed her as she passed, and its fist grew ever-tighter the harder she tried to get away. If it couldn't escape, it wouldn't let her either. The imagery was such that she struggled all the more, and finally felt a burning sensation rip up her hind leg, just as a voice cut into her panic.

Wide, blue eyes were turned on the stranger. In the moment, she did not recognize him at all, but any wolf was better than being alone with the mud and monsters. "Help," she commanded, turning her body and trying to paddle toward him. A whine of pain escaped her as the motion jarred her still-throbbing apendage, but it was a moot point either way. She couldn't move toward him any more than she could remove herself from the mire.

it was clear that more was wrong than just the mud; making his way through was tricky but manageable, but for her, it was downright impossible. she resisted his command, struggling further. he gave her a frown, shaking his head. "stop moving," he emphasized, voice firm. he began to wade towards her, looking closer at the root of the problem.

aditya began to dig at the mud, sending chunks flying, droplets of the stuff speckling his face and chest. hopefully, if he could excavate the limb enough, she could at least pull herself free with the other good legs. once he'd removed a significant amount--though, with the nature of a swamp, it had began to creep inward again--he looked at her, panting.

"try to move, now," he said, slightly breathless. "pull yourself forward with your front legs." if this, too, failed. . .his brain spun wildly as he tried to find a different solution. in all his years of living, this predicament somehow hadn't come up.

The Moonspear girl let out a muffled sound - somewhere between a growl of frustration and a piteous whine. She wasn't used to the tone he'd taken with her, and although he was familiar to her for some reason, he was not familiar enough that she took any comfort from his command. She took significantly more comfort from his actions, though. The root of the problem was a root - one that had caught Alya's ankle and refused to let go. The combination of Aditya's digging and Alya's altered position finally allowed her to wrench free, and she darted from the mud and toward more solid ground as soon as she realized this was the case... only to stumble and fall with a loud yelp as she realized her back leg would not be taking weight any time soon.

Shocked and hobbled, she laid in the shallow mud, more brown than black at this point. Her breaths came fast and shallow as she tried to wrap her head around her injury, to think rationally past the pain and terror that was still trying to fog her vision. Looking for the source of her pain did nothing, of course. All she could see was her leg, seemingly fine except for being covered in mud. Maybe a bit swollen, but who could tell? Still shaking, she tried to get to her paws once more, and found that she could barely hold the leg up without pain, never mind using it to hold herself up.

Oh no - forgive me, Hydra, she thought, lowering herself to the ground once more. She'd quite forgotten her company in her confusion and despair.

to his pleasure, she began to work herself free after he'd dug enough of a trench around her leg. a sigh of relief burst from his maw as she clambered forward, only for his face to contort once more into concern as she came to a stop again with a pained cry. adi waded toward her, trying to ascertain the point of trouble.

a hind leg hovered above the ground; the other legs bore her weight well, but that one was clearly injured. he came closer, hoping to support her weight against his. if she wished, she could lean against him.

"you're hurt," he said rhetorically, not expecting an answer. he blinked over at her, teeth slightly gritted. "we have to get you to a medic. my territory is not far from here; we have two healers available." well, perhaps just one. pema would do her duty, but he didn't want to put this crisis on her, not so soon after she had lost her mate and the father of her children.

no, sebastian would have to suffice for now. aditya trusted the man, but he felt guilty at adding yet another thing to his plate. they were suffering, too. . .

"walk with me?" adi asked, hoping she wouldn't put up a fight. "you can lean on my shoulder for support." his worry would not cease until they exited the mire.

She had just gotten around to thinking - What will I do on my own? - when the man's voice broke through her despair. She remembered that she was not alone, and turned wide, blue eyes on her rescuer with thanks on the tip of her tongue. It was then, though, that she recognized him. "You're - Aditya," she recalled, floundering for a moment before recalling his name. She remembered that she'd been Hydra, that day. "Thank you for your help," she added, beginning to feel embarrassed as the mortal terror drained from her body, leaving some kind of jelly-like substance behind.

Alya wobbled, but she was an Ostrega, and a dangerous one, at that. Ultimately, she was able to hobble along with him, although it was slow and painful going.

"I thought you lived on the other side of the mountains," she commented, noticing the diretion they were headed. He smelled different now than he had in those days. Maybe the Redhawks were not the only ones that'd cleared out.

he smiled as she recalled his name, at last. "it's no problem at all," he told the mystery girl, moving forward at a slow but steady pace, trying to avoid the more treacherous parts of the bog. they hustled along in silence for a bit, before aditya chimed up again. "well, i do suppose i'd be able to accept your gratitude more gracefully if i had a name to call you," he added, smirking in a cheeky fashion over at her.

"we moved for the summer," he explained, moving from casual flirtation to business in a snap. his face darkened as he recalled the past days. "i suppose we've moved again, now. there was a fire on the plains--drove us out into the neighboring forest."

aditya looked over at her with some concern: she was an awfully long way from home. he said as much, adding, "is all well with your pack?" from what he'd gathered from colt, the redhawk relocation seemed to bring the two supposed allies closer--though the girl had mentioned that perhaps the redhawks and the wolves of moonspear were not as friendly as one might think. was there some problem at home for her, too?

A soft huff of laughter escaped her at the gentle ribbing. She remembered that he'd met one of her sisters before her, and that she'd pretended to be the same girl. That wasn't all she remembered, though. "You didn't want to flirt with me, last time," she noted, perhaps a bit freer with her observations than she might normally be. Later on, she would call this a calculated risk, but the reality was that she was not in top mental form right then.

He smelled like fire, she realized, and something heavy and tight that had lived between her shoulder blades eased somewhat. Now that she had identifed the source of the smell, she could rest a little easier. And Aditya, to his credit, was a nice distraction. She liked the sound of his voice, and the feel of their shoulders bumping together gave her something to think about beside her twinging hind leg. "We're doing well. Better than the last time we spoke," said Alya when he asked after her pack. "I left on a scouting trip a few days ago - they're expecting me home in the next week or so." But she wasn't sure how feasible that was, now. "How is... Morningside?" she asked, taking a moment to index the conversation before speaking the name of the pack aloud. "Did everyone make it through the fire?"

his eyes cut sharply over to meet hers, but the smile that graced his muzzle was at odds with the expression--slow and smooth. "things were different, last time," aditya remarked. he was caught suddenly between the pleasure of teasing repartee--how long had it been?--and the pain of knowing all he had lost, since meeting this girl the first time. he tried very hard to focus his attention on the former sensation.

"i don't think we'll get you home in a week," he said, nodding ruefully toward her leg. "but we can send word, if you like." he sucked in a sorrowful breath at her question, shaking his head. he found himself unable to speak for a long moment, struggling for words to describe their tragedy. "no. there are some missing that i fear dead. shale, the father of a litter of four. . .kitten--"

his throat tightened hard at her name. merbani. tears came suddenly to his eyes. he had failed to locate the girl; was she lost forever, her body a charred mess on the plains? or had she managed to escape, and was now trying to find her way back to her family? he had come to think of her as her own daghter--either of these possibilities brought him great consternation.

"it could have been worse," adi reasoned quietly, swallowing hard. "i know that. but no--we did not escape the fire unscathed."

She didn't pretend to know that that meant, but his smile did spark a tiny coil of warmth in the pit of her stomach. In the next moment, however, it flickered and died. Aditya told her of his losses, and a small sound - "Hmn." - that might have been empathy escaped the dark woman. She, too, had known loss. It had left her somewhat cold and pragmatic toward these things, and in any case, she was not the type to weep with strangers. It was not her loss, but she did have an inkling of his sorrows.

"They will come for me," she said in response to Aditya's offer. "If they need to. They know where I was headed."

Which reminded her - "Incidentally - would you happen to know where a pack called Easthollow is?"

he really ought to have been offended by her apparent lack of emotion toward his troubles, but truthfully. . .aditya was relieved that she did not offer long-winded condolences or cry alongside him. this current crisis of getting her healed was hers, after all; her injury and now this muted reaction did a lot to take his mind off the weight upon his heart.

the question that followed, even more so.

"they are our closest allies," adi responded, happy to be of help for this, at least. "they live to the south, near a circle of stones. it's not too far--i can take you there, when you're able to travel." he wondered what she wanted with easthollow, but he did not pry, just yet. she would tell him in time, if it was information he needed to know. and if it was not. . .

they were barely more than strangers, to each other. whatever personal business she had with any of the wolves of easthollow was certainly not his business to know.

Alya (pointedly) did not mention that she had a sort of standing invitation to visit Easthollow, and probably stay there for a time if she needed to. While she was uncomfortable accepting aid (read: charity) from Morningside, she at least did not have the sort of baggage with them as she did with Easthollow. She'd been the last one to see their son alive, after all, and there were some questions they might ask that she just wasn't ready to answer.

"Thank you," she said again, but she had no intention of being escorted anywhere once she had four functioning legs. She found his willingness to help her incredibly suspicious. Even if he had no ulterior motives, it was unequivocally strange. Alya herself had never lifted a toe to help another out of the goodness of her heart. Probably because her heart was filled with tartatian spawn rather than goodness. "I will, of course, do my best to repay your kindness," she commented, the last word stressed as if to elucidate that she was not fooled by the good old boy act.

her tone gave him pause, but he only smiled in return, shaking his head. "no need," he responded casually. "i told you, it's not a problem. let's get you back to the maplewood." aditya fell into comfortable silence then, threading their path through the swamp. he wondered just what sort of culture moonspear was for her to be so insistent on repaying this supposed debt.

this was morningside. obviously within reason--but they helped others, without much thought of getting something in return. it fell right in line with aditya's values he'd carried with him his entire life.

he glanced over at her, making sure she was still fine, and increased his pace a tad, eager to return home. he did still worry about adding another burden to his pack, but that bridge would be crossed when they arrived. he couldn't have just left her there, right?

can we close this out?

Sure!

Well that was suspicious. Alya was struck, suddenly, with a sense of great forboding. Maybe she shouldn't go with this guy after all. He'd seemed perfectly sane (if not boring) when they'd met at the altar, but now he seemed rather intent on getting an injured, defenseless (ha!) woman back to his creepy forest.

Alya took a moment to remind herself that she was not defenseless. Not even a little. Aditya thought he was bringing a damsel in distress back home, but Alya hadn't been one of those since Dash had died for her. (Adventures in swams notwithstanding.) She could take whatever nefarious plans the Morningsiders might have for her.