Haunted Wood like rum on the fire

exhaustion had caught up with her, and sleep came as soon as she wedged herself in what must have once been a fox's burrow, now half-collapsed. it was the dark, featureless kind, at first, and then—

eyes. staring up, glazed with the same expression of the prey she brought down. brilliant green, never had she really seen them, until now. blood smeared liberally, pieces of bark and dirt mixed in with her mother's fur. and yet her chest still rose and fell, and it was not relief she felt but a sharp, sharp wrongness, and then the eyes turned to her, rolling unnaturally quickly to latch on her. her mother's mouth moved but now words came out and she was, is

falling

and she's awake, bolting upward and clawing at the dirt, until she's standing on stiff limbs in the middle of a small clearing, breath laboured. Hela squints shut her eyes, trying to bury the memory, burn it, force it out of existence. she edges grow a little blurrier, and the girl rocks back to perch on her hindquarters, the pain a relief and a distraction from the nightmare. 

@Serem

The pup that was brought to the woods was injured it seemed like no doubt by the quaking of the earth. The raven sought out that particular pup today to see if she may help the child in any way she could. When she came across her she had been sleeping but was soon awoken by a nightmare from what it looked like. She wondered what it might be about. “Hello. You okay?” She asked simply not in a loving kind way but just a normal question.

she rises as quickly as she's sat when the woman intrudes on her glade, pivoting to face her. her ears are slicked back in what may easily be interpreted as aggression, but in reality, is unease and shock she'd rather deny. "fine." she retorts, far from trusting any of the wolves who are now her new packmates, especially unwilling to do so if it might sacrifice her attempts at projecting strength and confidence.

The pup was fiesty and seemed to say she was okay but if she remembers correctly the other pup staying she was injured. “I’m a medic and I was seeing if you needed attention.” Was what she said simply

the woman's name comes back to her slowly. the day that the tree fell seems more a blurred nightmare than anything else, and it takes a while to wade through her memories. she doesn't trust the woman in the slightest, though twists to show her the bruising on her side. most of it isn't visible, save for the scabs and dried blood. "see? I'm fine." it's mostly true - she's sore, but the worst of it should heal within a week. sooner, rather than later, would be ideal; she's not forgotten the leader's words.

She looked at the wounds on the pup and simply nodded. “If they start to look different than they do now come see me and I can give you something to prevent infection.” She then remember what Vengeance said to the young one about fighting. “And if you need practice on fighting I may be able to help with that also.”

she doesn't reply, not intending to take the woman up on her offer in any case. the second one she's more inclined towards, however, and after a beat offers an, "ok." she hesitates a moment, not all that oriented yet, and then she moves; the swift, viper-like strike her mother taught her. a nip at the womans face; a head on attack which she doesn't care lands or not. as soon as her fangs snap closed, be it on flesh or fur or nothing, she's already retreating. she has no interest in close-contact fighting, preferring to deliver swift strikes before withdrawing out of harm's way.

The little one nipped her lip and she could taste her own blood on her tongue. She gave the girl props on her little cheap shot and countered with something of her own.  The raven reached for the girls leg with her jaws in an effort to knock her on the ground and make her loose balance so that she may get the upper hand.

the woman had the advantage of size and strength and experience when she reached for Hela's limb, but Hela had the advantage of being stubborn and hell-bent on victory. when the woman latches onto her leg, she abruptly shoves her weight forward, onto the woman's head, while attempting to grab onto the tender flesh of the woman's ears at the same time. Serem's ultimately made her head so much easier to reach, and the girl won't waste the opportunity, even at the expense of her balance.

She felt the pup shift her weight forward and it wasn’t much but that females teeth were like needles as she bit on her ear and serem did the same and used her weight to push forward hoping to knock the pup over and off of her.

when the woman pushes forward, Hela is knocked back. she releases her grip, retreating swiftly out of harm's way, but almost immediately begins to circle to the woman's left, seeking another opening, or for Serem to come at her with an attack. hate pulses low and angry, her gaze narrowed and her muzzle half-agape as she waits for the woman's next move.

She seemed to spark anger in the small child and it made a smirk grow on her face. "That's good use your anger however don't let it blind you." That had happened to her many times when she was young and she had to learn the hard way. "I think we're done here for now." She refrained from giving the girl any compliment.

the woman's compliment echoed what her mother had told her about anger, emotion, in a fight. Cass had stressed the importance of never allowing herself to be driven purely by anger, or any emotion for that matter. her words had held a certain weight that had had her pay attention.

when the woman suggests a quick end to their fight, Hela agrees with a clipped dip of her head; she's not going to push her luck in furthering a fight against an adult. with one more glance at the woman, she turned tail and vanished back the way she'd come.

Serem watches the young female leave and she too returned to what she was doing after she had been doing before they had started their spar. 

closing up threads