Heron Lake Plateau No more room in hell.

Towhee didn't believe in things like bad omens, yet she couldn't help but interpret their ill-fated journey to the caldera as some sort of sign. The place was bad luck, perhaps even cursed ground. And there could be no clearer portent than her dead leg. She should not have gone, should never have let her inkling to travel come to fruition. She had paid the price and now she wouldn't be able to foray again, even if she wanted (which she didn't). In fact, Towhee might never leave the plateau again, once they made the arduous trek back.

Even that wasn't a foregone conclusion—she wouldn't be able to put up much of a fight in her president condition, should a wolf or other predator decide to attack them—but they did finally make it back home. They even made it up onto the plateau proper, though the climb felt like it took ages. Towhee felt utterly spent from the journey and she could only imagine that @Fire and @Tegan must feel similarly. She cast a grateful look to either side, then promptly oozed to the ground.

Her eyes closed for a moment, closing Towhee off to the world. She wasn't worried about her inability to travel again. She was worried about what this injury meant for patrolling and otherwise contributing to the pack. Would @Raven be able to help her? The Beta's eyes fluttered open. She supposed it was a good thing she wasn't in pain, though by now, she knew it didn't bode well at all. Towhee gave her useless leg a baleful look, then glanced sharply away when she saw how the muscles had already wasted a little in only a week's time. Even if she did regain sensation, what if her limb atrophied beyond repair?

-Did one of you call for Rave?- she signed at her two weary traveling companions. Towhee was unable to resist the impulse to add, -I'm really sorry about this, guys.- She had been such a burden since the fall and she hated it. -And thank you,- she was sure to add before her orange eyes dropped to the ground as Towhee contemplated her fate.

wtf where did this book come from - i kept mention of their injuries vague because i am not sure full details! hope that is ok

tending two children was busy-work; yet it was not so consuming that caiaphas was entirely unaware a portion of their pack had split off. she made no assumption to their reasoning or their whereabouts, nor did she guess as to if they would return. too many wolves had departed in caiaphas' life-time.. and she had watched the slim backs of many comrades slink off into the unknown, never seen again.

when the small band of wolves returned, caiaphas had been deep in her own duties. patrolling gave her purpose, it kept her mind at bay -- and it also set a cold precedent for her children @Svalinn and @Raleska, who were often dragged along so that they may learn at an early age to trust nothing and nobody but themselves.

today the she-wolf was alone as she came across the fresh scent of the trio. she rifled along the ground curiously, for the pawprints left in their passing showed a shortened stride -- as if someone were injured. caiaphas was no healer (in fact, she could be said to be the opposite -- a ruinous destroyer) but if one of their own was injured, it meant there was something out there, physical and corporal, that she could commit to its own devastation.

it did not take the sylph long to find the band of wolves: she looked over each in quick assessment, her attention coming to rest on the beta who presently, sat across the ground as if defeated. there was little fire simmering in towhee's jackolantern gaze that caiaphas could see, and as she drew closer her steps became slowed and light, yet it was clear the sylph wished for some explanation, or some target in which she would be commanded to sink her teeth into in retribution.

was shadowposted.

The journey home had taken much longer than the one to the Caldera, and Ceara was exhausted from their travels.  She was frustrated for sure, but she couldn't bring herself to be angry with Towhee, who was probably the most miserable of them all.

As soon as the Plateau was in sight, her spirits rose.  The sooner they could make it to Raven, the sooner they would get answers.  Ceara was able to tell that Towhee's limb was unusable and that she had no or little sensation in the affected limb.  She knew that the injury had come from the spine and despite everyone's discomfort, she was not comfortable doing something so precious on her own.  They would have to see Raven.

As Towhee sunk to the ground, exhausted, Ceara sent up an urgent howl for Raven.  

Yeah, she said gently, I did.  Seeing Towhee like this was hard.  It's okay.  It's not like Towhee had done this on purpose.  I'm sure.. Raven will have answers.  

But it was not Raven who approached, it was the woman whose son she had saved.  She still didn't know her name, and she said nothing as she approached.  We're waiting for Raven.  Towhee slipped and fell, and now she can't feel her leg.

"ah quit your wallowing," tegan said teasingly to towhee, trying to lighten her mood, "you all would've hauled my fatass back if it would've been me." and damn tegan would not have been easy cargo. 

he quieted when phas came, feeling mildly intimidated by her. and she wasn't really all that attractive, for sure, but she was so damn dark and dirty and mysterious that tegan couldn't help but be allured by her. so he shut up to make sure he didn't say anything dumb or incriminating.

I wanted to keep this moving!

Towhee looked up just in time to catch Tegan's words. Despite the predicament, she couldn't help but rejoin wryly, "That's where you're wrong. I would've immediately left you for dead." That was, of course, a lie; she would've carried her younger brother on her back if necessary. "Good riddance," she finished the joke wearily, making sure to wink and even smile at him.

But the expression faded and the Beta's attention shifted. It wasn't her older sister walking toward them, only Caiaphas. Towhee saw the woman's defensive posture and appreciated it, though she shook her head lightly to say, "It's not necessary." Ceara spoke up in explanation of the circumstances and Towhee bobbed her head uselessly.

Another movement captured her attention, this time overhead. Towhee's eyes watched as X swooped closer and eventually landed nearby, hopping closer. "Hey, bud," the she-wolf said, reaching out to touch her nose to her companion's beak. "I missed you, though I'm sure you appreciated the break from me. I, ah..." She glanced at her leg to direct the hawk's sharp eyes before her gaze fixed on his inscrutable face again. "I fucked up my leg. It's not broken, just..." Dead, unresponsive, useless.

unless someone addresses phas, you guys can skip to keep moving especially if more people join in <3

as caiaphas approached, her gaze raked from beta, to the other two -- the young male that had assisted her hunt for the bobcat, and the spry red flame that had salvaged svalinn from death. she canted her noble muzzle slightly, the sharp yellow of her prying gaze briefly eclipsed.

yet it was towhee who caiaphas ultimately fixed on, with her condition being the poorest. caiaphas' posture slackened as the wolf mutely shook her head, and as she looked over the gnarled limb the firebrand spoke.

gravity was not an enemy mortal fangs could slay -- not even caiaphas'. she frowned, working in quiet thought how the beta might have been sundered.  if they had been by the sea, caiaphas would have known how to cure such an ailment, which seaweeds to wrap on the limb, where to find the poultice-like clay to assay inflammation..

but they were not by the sea, and the she-wolf resumed her silence. she wondered as to the nature of their pilgrimage, but without much information to go off of, elected to busy herself and to search the area for any wild rosemary or white willow.

Ceara has taken care of the injury the best she could; she was but an apprentice, after all.  She'd (hopefully) treated the spinal injury well enough that Towhee wouldn't be riddled with infection.  Given the Beta's current state, Ceara figured she'd done a well enough job of that.

This incident had caused her to wonder if she had really wanted to become a healer, or if she'd done it to make Raven proud.  The answer wouldn't cause her to alter her course of action — two healers in a pack was better than one, and Ceara made to make herself useful the best she could — but she would have to sit on it and mull it over some more.

Caiaphas made herself busy and Ceara, feeling useless just sitting here, made to do the same while they waited on Raven.  The woman was quiet and old with an unwelcoming mien, but the firebrand found that she might be a good one to learn from.

tegan gave a sharp, playful growl, nudging towhee on the cheek. she wouldn't have left him, he was too precious to leave behind. 

caiaphas was silent still, and so was tegan, tryna look a little less like a fuckall child and more like a stoic, mysterious adult. cause thats what that lady was. but then she left. damn. tegan made a face. and then ceara too elected to make herself useful and start messing with things. tegan was, altogether, pretty useless. so he elected to keep this status and just sit around next to towhee and keep her company. he made a silly face at X, tail wiggling. he wished everyone would stay moree positive.

The other three stood silently in the background (as far as she could tell) while Towhee conversed with X. "Nah, she'll come when she can," she replied to some unspoken question the hawk posed, finally lifting her orange gaze to regard her companions. "You guys don't have to wait. I'm not in any danger and Rave will get here when she gets here. I know you two must be bushed, so go get some rest." She made a shooing motion at Ceara and Tegan.

Turning to Caiaphas then, she paused and then said, "Could you help me to the nearest tree so I can park somewhere a little more comfortable?" Gingerly, she lifted herself, trying to avoid teetering due to her imbalance. She lurched toward the Theta, hoping she could sustain her own weight—they wouldn't be going far—but wanting to stay close in case she needed the extra support.

it was not long she rustled between the copse alone; soon she was joined by redhawk's firestorm, and she flickered her a quiet look: "looking for wild rosemary, or white willow.. though i am afraid there is no plant on earth that cures the ailment of gravity." her quip had a playful enough tone, and as she nosed through a brush of mountain-grass, heard towhee call for her.

obediently, caipahas made her way back to the beta and her bird -- offering her shoulder as towhee lurched in her direction. unabashed by the proximity, she was quick to close the gap and push against the black-furred she-wolf, so that she might walk on her good limb while her unsound side was supported by the theta's weight.

Last from me!  Sorry for the wait, I thought I'd already done this.

In this moment only, Ceara is thankful for Towhee's deafness.  She's unable to restrain the snort that escaped from her.  Glinting gunmetal sought the cheerless yellow of Caiaphas' gaze before she turns her attention to Towhee.

Thanks, boss.  She drops the herbs she has collected for Caiaphas and turns tail, ready to catch up on some much-needed rest.

Thought I'd wrap this for us, fam!

Caiaphas offered her assistance and it wasn't long before Towhee was deposited in the shadow of some scraggly scrub. She'd missed the exchange between the two other she-wolves, though she glanced up in time to watch as both Ceara and Tegan skittered off to catch up on some z's.

That didn't sound like a half bad idea. She murmured a quiet, "Thanks," to Caiaphas and then let her chin fall to her paws. Whether or not the Theta stuck around was entirely up to her. Towhee was safe here and she would rest easy until Raven could come and take a look.