Blacktail Deer Plateau rhinestone eyes

set after this

it was a miracle that he had escaped. fresh blood soaked his fur, his tail was nothing more than a pathetic stub, but at least he was alive.

the defeated warrior nearly crawled into the plateau, leaving a trail of his blood behind him. it took every ounce of energy to stay conscious. he let out a weak distress call before crumpling under his own weight.

Hours had passed since everything had gone down, the day was nearly done and she had tracked Issun's scent to the borders earlier. He had crossed over them but she didn't follow, deciding to allow him to run away from everything. See if she cared, that was how she felt. She had sat and stewed in her anger all day, ready to confront him and get everything straight. Her ears shot up at the sound of his howl, the tone icing her anger and chilling her to the bone. She stood up and ran, heart racing until she got to the borders where he lay in a bloody heap. "Oh god Issun" she croaked. She grabbed him by the scruff, dragging him deeper into the territory so they were safer in case whatever had done this followed him back. Then she set him down gently, howling for help.


Her basic emergency knowledge kicked in and she sharply nipped at his nose, the gesture meaning to rouse him and then she began to lick at his eyes "Wake up Issun and Stay awake you don't get to die before answering for some things" she spoke loudly in their shared language, her voice meant to be angry and firm but  trembling and betraying her fear. God she was still pissed, he had run off again and ended up nearly getting himself killed and she would be damned if he died like this. On a real note she was terrified she was about to lose him, she still cared about him immensely.

Ruenna's ears lifted at the sound of the faraway distress call, and she began to root around in Liri's herbs for the first aid supplies. Thank the stars the healer had moved her supplies into the Door, where they were easily accessible. 

Minori's call came next, much louder and more insistent. There was no time to waste. Rue grabbed what she could and went, feet carrying her swiftly to the source of Minori's call. 

When Rue arrived, she found Minori trying to rouse Issun. Rue whined to announce her approach, unable to speak with the supplies in her mouth. She spat the first aid bundle onto the ground as she drew up to Minori and Issun. The air was so thick with the smell of blood that it made her head swim, and the state of Issun's tail elicited a horrified shudder.

"Maybe hold off on that.." Rue advised gently, indicating that Minori shouldn't wake Issun just yet. "..This will hurt him if he's awake," she explained, voice a little muffled as she began chewing up the bitter comfrey. Her tone sounded distant, almost detached-- truly, keeping her mind focused on the task at hand was the only thing keeping Rue from vomiting at the sight of the missing tail.

he winced when he felt someone grabbed his scruff. he couldn’t see who it was, his vision had gone blurry by then, but he knew it was minori by the smell. the sound of her shaking voice was painful to hear. he was still extremely upset about what happened before, angry even. despite that, he still cared deeply for her and hearing her voice brake hurt him.

he did cringe at what she said, however. you don't get to die before answering for some things. he knew exactly what she was talking about and he definitely wasn’t ready for it. not now.

that would be a problem for another time. ruenna had come to help. by that time, his sense of hearing had deteriorated immensely. her voice just sounded like white noise.

Since Ruenna showed up Minori had missed Issun's silent reactions to her words. She looked up at the Beta, feeling illogically defensive of Issun and giving a sharp look before she spotted the herbs in the woman's maw. For those few seconds she had looked wild, feral even before she got hold of herself. "It's not good to let someone so injured fall asleep. They may not wake up" she protested but even so, stopped trying to rouse Issun. Instead she paced back and forth, circling around them. "Do you need any help? Can I do anything?" she asked, the anger now the last thing on her mind. She just wanted to see Issun awake and well again, then she would handle the confrontation. Now was definitely not the time for it.

-slam dunks Corvus in here because of course I do-

Corvus had been at the eastern end of the territory when he heard Minori's cry for help. His heart sank in his chest like a stone in a lake, and the raven's legs carried him towards her on their own accord. Her call came from near the border where one could enter the plateau. He feared that she got into a skirmish with an intruder... or worse. If his mind weren't in a downright panic, he would've paced himself over such a considerable distance; but that was not the case, so he moved like a bullet across the terrain, legs and lungs burning from exertion. The adrenaline coursing through him made all of that insignificant in this moment.

He'd caught the tail end of Minori saying something to Ruenna once in hearing range: "... may not wake up." Corvus was relieved upon discovering that Minori was completely unharmed, albeit pacing with anxious energy. He was ready to collapse when he finally arrived on the scene, entire body screaming at him for pushing it to its limit. His tongue lolled while his lungs fought to suck in enough air to keep him standing. His attention was brought to the dark, freckled form that lay bleeding from its hindquarters on the ground, unconscious — Issun. What did he get himself into? Was he foolish enough to pick a fight with a creature larger than him? If Corvus were more coherent, he would've easily realized that Issun must have been pursued by his assailant from the fact that his wounds were on his back end. But he was as emotionally charged as he could ever be, so this didn't even cross his mind.

While still angered by Issun's cowardly behavior and how it — he — was hurting Minori, Corvus was not so petty as to desire harm to befall him as it clearly had now. It took him quite some time to catch his breath, and he slid to take a seat while he did so. Once finally collected enough to speak, he asked, Does anyone know what happened? His voice was hoarse, and the words came out between intakes of breath, throat raw from forcefully taking in so much cold air. He didn't feel the need to ask what he could do since Minori had just asked that, and it was clear he was here to assist where he could.

Rue's ears flattened at Minori's glare, and she halted for a moment to allow the mercenary the chance to overcome her protective instincts. Rue took no offense; the Redfern girl was also a creature driven by instinct. She understood. Rue resumed her approach when Minori's body language softened. 

Minori insisted that keeping Issun awake was important, and Rue would not argue with her. Patching up that tail was going to hurt, but Minori had very likely seen more battle than Rue and knew what was best in this situation. Also on Rue's mind was the worry that Issun would fall asleep, and he wouldn't wake up, and Rue certainly didn't want to get blamed for that outcome if she argued with Minori now. 

Minori's offer of help came as Rue was about to request her assistance. "Yeah-- could you hold his back legs? Really tight?" Rue was about to start work on the tail-stub, and she had a feeling Issun was going to fight back. Once the patient was secure, Rue spit the comfrey mixture on the wound and began wrapping cobwebs around the nub. It was a tricky job; there wasn't much left of the tail to wrap up. After a moment Rue found herself simply holding pressure on the wound with the makeshift gauze, waiting for the bleeding to stem.

At some point Corvus had arrived. Rue swallowed as she met his fiery gaze, which felt as if it burned a track all the way into the pit of her belly. She was very aware of the hideous bloodstains coating her from ear-to-toe, which made her face burn as well. He had asked a question. A question. Rue gave an infintesimal shake of her head and spoke. "This scent on him, it smells like a... like.. something mean. Not a wolf." She wrinkled her nose, unable to pinpoint the scent exactly, and she looked to Minori for her opinion. Rue's senses were all awash in blood and bitter comfrey, but maybe Minori could get a better scent off of Issun.

every little thing around him was overbearing. the light, the wind, the noise. it was all too much for his senses.

the light around him began to fade until someone held down his legs. his eyes flew open and darted around until they landed on a corvus. a low growl boiled in his throat. he was the last person he wanted to see.

there was no time to dwell on that. pain spread through his body and his growl was cut short with a groan of agony. he instinctively tried to get away, but minori’s grip on him was too strong.

Minori froze when Corvus showed up. It was because of what she had been caught doing with him that this happened. Guilt mixed with the initial fire that surged through her whenever she saw him making her feel ill instead of happy. She avoided acknowledging his presence altogether and just nodded, doing what was needed from her and talking hold of Issun's back legs. "don't struggle...please don't struggle. It'll be over soon, Issun."

Finally collecting himself, the raven stood again. Ruenna answered his question but wasn't sure of the culprit, either. It was difficult to tell with all the other scents on him — most notably blood, but now the aroma of herbs, too. Ruenna glanced at Minori questioningly, but she was understandably concerned with Issun and didn't pay any attention to either of them. When she held down his legs as instructed, Issun's eyes shot open. Upon landing on Corvus, he growled lowly. Corvus merely stared back into his eyes with a flat expression, though his own burned hotly as they always did, perhaps with more intensity than usual. Their silent battle of will was cut short when Ruenna applied something to what was left of his tail, and Issun thrashed about in pain with a groan.

He knew Issun needed all the attention and care he could get right now, but that didn't stop the unreasonable tugging in his chest when Minori cooed to him in the language they shared, speaking words only they could understand. Corvus would be lying if he said a pang of pity didn't ring through him, though. He'd been fortunate enough not to lose any part of his body over the years, despite the wounds he suffered. Still, the frustration (or was it jealousy?) prevailed.

It felt like he wasn't exactly needed or even wanted here, which did sting a bit, but he came all this way and wouldn't allow his presence to be useless. Let me know if there is anything I can do. I will help move him when you're finished, Corvus said. He spoke mostly to Ruenna, seeing as the other two weren't keen on his presence, at the moment.

As Issun thrashed, blood poured into the cobweb gauze, soaking it through. Rue chewed her lip in frustration and immediately regretted it as she tasted Issun's blood on her maw. Her stomach wrenched instantly, and it was all she could do not to gag. The taste of another wolf's blood was replusive to her. Clearly she would never have the stomach for the mercenary work towards which the other three seemed to gravitate.  

Pulling the soaked dressings away, Ruenna made a second attempt securing a bandage. It went more smoothly this time, likely because Minori had gotten a good grip on Issun and was able to hold him still. Ruenna backed away tenatively as she finished, making sure that the bandage would hold before turning to Corvus. 

"I'm finished," she said, almost as soon as Corvus finished speaking. Her voice was distant and more than a little shaky. "If you take him to the Door, Liri has medicines there. She can see to him..." Rue backed away further, suddenly feeling like she was going to vomit. "Sorry, I need- ..pleaseexcuseme," she blurted to the other two before hurrying away into the trees. She refused to vomit in front of packmates (again). She would join them at the Door later to check in, after she'd settled her stomach and washed Issun's blood from her pelt. 

Rue's exit. Sorry her first aid kind of sucks compared to Liri's, xD she's no pro.

The stench of herbs mixed with blood was probably Minori's least favorite smell, it always meant someone was hurt and normally that someone was a friend. It held haunting memories and this scenario was so deeply familiar that she found herself struggling with it as well. Ruenna announced that she was finished, sounding disturbed and then rushed off, causing Minori to pause and look after her with concern. It was odd for a medic to be so troubled by something like this, Minori mused over it for a moment before returning her main attention to Issun. She looked to Corvus and her ears shifted atop her head warily "Would you try to lift him onto my back and then take the rest of him? The door isn't that far off.." she asked her eyes prying into his. She was aware of tension between the three of them but there was no place for drama here. Issun needed Liri's care and that was what mattered now. When Corvus agreed she looked to Issun "Don't move Issun, relax. I've got you" was all she said though she was unsure if he was conscious or not. With Corvus's help she hefted him onto her back and began to carry him to Liri where he could be tended to more in depth.

PP'ing Corvus since he is PPC