Stone Circle Half a world away

Decided to make a new thread. Set after the cougar attack. @Greyback

Valette noticed that the shoulder wound wasn't really getting any better with Greyback standing on it. The female looked at it worriedly. She was not a medic but she did know how to deal with cuts and scapes being a mother. She did not want to bother Alarian. She was not even sure if the male was doing any better. She should check on him, she mentally told herself. But now Greyback came first.

"Can you walk? We should go to my den. I have moss there and the stream is close," she stated. She always had some moss around for when the kids had some cuts from playing too rough, and from the time Stark had been ill and he needed to drink. She always soaked the moss in the stream close to her den. She felt the den was probably big enough for Greyback since it used to fit two adults and three pups. Now it only housed Valette, and she wouldn't mind some company now the nights were getting colder.

Greyback twitched his ear to the sound of Valette's voice and looked up her with a tired gaze, his fur slightly ruffled and hanging in clumps around his neck. She was okay—Easthollow was okay. In all his years he had never fought before, never bared his teeth to another, never shed any blood. It was new to him, and while he had won out in the battle, the flight or fight response had now taken over his body and he felt like water.

It took a while to actually process that Valette was speaking to him and he quickly looked over at his shoulder, brows raised. The wound still burned like the suns hot rays, but he was sure he could walk on it. Grunting, he slowly raised himself and added pressure to his other legs, careful not to put too much weight onto it. "I'm alright," he replied.

Walking slowly alongside her, Greyback kept scanning over her coat, eyes fixated on every strand of fur. Nothing caught his attention other than the nick on her eyebrow, but it was enough to send guilt plummeting towards his gut. He had allowed her to get hurt, and now she was going to have a scar. "You're hurt," he stated, voice a bit too gruff. "Alarian should look at that."

Valette groaned softly when the male brushed off the fact that he was not fine. She shook her head. "You are not! Look at your shoulder," she spoke a bit more strictly towards the male. She was not going to let him fuss over her. She didn't have a severe wound compared to him. She didn't feel that she deserved to be fussed over.

"Greyback, it is just a scape," she assured him and then nudged him forward. "To my den, now. Then I can at least keep an eye on you," she pointed out, a hint of a smile. "Your wound needs to get clean, after that you can care for my battle wound. Deal?" She tried to negotiate with he male.

As Valette chided him he gave her a smile, unfazed by her strict tone. He looked to his shoulder as she asked, and then back to her, his grin still apparent. "Im not in any danger of dying, it'll heal," he replied. He knew he was being stubborn, but regardless of his state Valette was the one who needed him during the fight.

"A scrape it might be," he retorted. "But not all wounds are physical— Valette you were frozen during the fight. Do you want to talk about it?" He stepped closer to her, his brows pinched closer together, but gave a nod to her "I will stay in your den and let you tend to my wounds if you wish, but let tend to yours as well."

Valette huffed at Greyback. Perhaps she was a little more used to people doing what she wanted than she realized. She was not accepting this though. "Still, it can get infected and you will die later," she stated with a firm nod. Which was unfortunately from experience. Steady died days after battle and her mother died from a cougar attack days later as well. "Who knows what that cat had under its claws," she pointed out while walking towards her den.

Valette let her ears flop back when Greyback called out on her freezing into place. Why was he so considerate about it? It was unfair. She already felt guilty about it. The female sighed softly. "My mother died from the after math cougar attack when I was a teenager. I had to watch her suffer from terrible wounds for days until I watched her give up on life. It took a few extra days before she succumbed from her injuries." It had taken days if starving herself from water and food.

Valette always thought she had peace with her mother dying since she would finally be at rest but perhaps there was still something to be dealt with after all. "I guess I just went back to that time of feeling like a incompetent teenager, not knowing what to do when your mother is injured by a cat."

Greyback stared at her as she huffed, eyes trained on her expression. She was right, the cougar could of had dirty claws which could easily lead to an infection and sickness. Greyback was no medic, but he knew enough basic knowledge to understand that. He nodded to her gently, "You're right,"

And then she started talking about her family, and we watched as her expression changed. Seeing her ears flop back he instantly felt his heart break. "Oh, Valette," he cooed, leaning forward to nudge his nose into her fur as some way of comfort. He didn't mean to make her upset. "I'm sorry-," he whispered. It was such a horrible thing for her to go through, it seemed Valette had always gone through horrible things. If anything it made his testament to keep her safe stronger.

"I'm sorry such a thing happened, but you are anything but incompetent," he pulled back to look at her, a smile still hanging from his face in attempt to sooth her worry. "Lets go back to your den and settle down, we can talk more about this there." As much as he wanted to continue standing, the ache in his shoulder throbbed more with each minute he stood on it longer.

Valette was pleased that Greyback agreed with her. He needed intensive licking and moss to stop the infection, at least to her that seemed the right choice. She offered him a kind smile when he said that he was sorry. "Don't be. It isn't your fault," she explained and shook her head. She sighed softly as she really knew that she wasn't incompetent but in that moment she felt like that.

The female smiled and started to walk to her den. It was such a familiar route to her. She walked her usual path, but slower as she could see that he was in pain. The female stayed with him until they reached her den. "You can go inside if you like," she offered. Valette was quick to grab some moss and trot over to the river a few paces away. The female let them soak by holding her muzzle.

She then returned to the male and smiled with a mossy smile. She felt a bit silly. She then pressed the moss against his shoulder. She pushed against it so the water ran out, flushing the wound. Her hazel green eyes were battered up at Greyback. She kind of liked to have someone to snuggle against later.

Greyback followed Valette closely, his body slumped forwards a bit as he tried his best not to put too much pressure onto the shoulder. It was awkward walking like this, and he found quickly that he despised it. Never before had he had a would that affected his ability to move. Sure, his face was scarred. But it didn't leave him immobile.

He watched as Valette led him to her den, and a heat slightly rose to his face. He was in.. her den. It seemed a bit inappropriate given their current...relationship status. But then again—she insisted that she take care of him.

Ducking slightly from the opening, the large male moved towards the side of the den to take up as little space as possible, his shoulder exposed to the center for easy access. With a golden eyes he watched Valette pick up some vegetation and trot out only to come back with it soaked in water. He gave her a smile at the look, amused by how silly it looked. Though he winced a bit at the cold sensation against his flesh, letting a breath get sucked between his teeth only to expell it with a hiss, It stung a bit, but he didn't voice any complains.

"Youre good at this," he praised, looking at her with a half-lidded gaze. He didn't want to admit it, but having Valette look at him like that and take care of him felt very nice.

Valette couldn't help but smile when Greyback was in her den. He looked really fluffy to snuggle against. She still had the bearskin on the floor of her den. It had been a gift from Rannoch and his pack. Valette flushed when Greyback praised her for her work. "I hope it helps. I'm not really a medic," she spoke. It were just some skills a mother needed to have, or she had learned being a mother of wolf cubs that injured themselves.

She could tell that it hurt him, which meant it was good that she was flushing out the wound. Then infection might flush away instantly. When all the moss was dry, it wouldn't really stay on his shoulder, but the wound looked clean, in her opinion at least. "It looks clean," she decided. She wished she could do more, but she wasn't sure what. Perhaps letting it dry was the best thing she could do.

Valette glanced up at him with a smile on her lips. It felt good to care for someone but also have that in return. She snuggled against him and placed her head on his front paws. One side of her face buried in his lush mane. She sighed happily and closed her eyes. She kind of didn't want him to leave her den ever again. This den was far too big all by herself, she decided.

He watched silently as Valette cleaned the wound more, looking at her with a gaze that spoke more words that he could say himself. She was humble, she was kind, she was caring— she was everything. He couldn't imagine where he would be now if she had turned him away at the border when he first arrived, ragged in the middle of winter. If Valette would ask him to drop dead right then and there perhaps he would have with a twinkle in his eye and a smile on his face.

He was snapped out of his love-sick mindset by her announcement of the clean words, and upon noticing he was staring for who knows how long, he looked at the would with surprise. His fur around the area was wet, soaked with the water she was squeezed in, and the wound still stung, but underneath he could tell his flesh was thanking him for relief.

As Valette hunkered down and snuggled against him, face nearly disappearing in his fur, he let a small hum leave his chest and lowered his head to rest it softly over his shoulders. It was nice—the warmth of her against him, the display of affection. He let out another sigh and closed his eyes as well, letting the exhaustion take him and the scent of Valette encompass him. "Thank you," he whispered, but perhaps it wasn't only for cleaning his wound.

Valette hummed softly. She liked this. She liked this a lot. She felt warm and comfortable. Suddenly that cougar wasn't so scary anymore. She had Greyback with her and he would protect her. Valette liked a protector. This was a red thread through her past mates. The female closed her eyes, the cougar had caused enough tiredness that she was ready to sleep. It didn't take long for her to dose off in Greyback's embrace.

- end -