Hideaway Strath To the bone.

Towhee knew she shouldn't. She needed to rest and heal. But how could she do any of that when her family was still trapped? She took one night to get some sleep, then gave her caretakers the slip before daybreak, limping her way back to the wall. By the time she reached its base, she felt a little woozy. She paused to draw in some breaths, steady herself.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt a brush on her thigh, not far from her wound. With a clipped snarl, she whirled (making her even dizzier), only to discover Sugar standing there. "It's bleeding," the youth said. "You shou—"

But Towhee didn't let the miniature medic finish. "Spot me," she grated out before turning away from Sugar and back toward the rock pile. She didn't know if her younger sister would know what that meant but she didn't let that stop her. She began to climb.

She fell, more than once. Her wound reopened and her ribs were screaming in protest. Yet Towhee refused to quit. Nails scraping on shale, she heaved herself up the stack of stones, stopping only when she reached the pinnacle. She had hit her head somewhere in there and a cut on her brow bled freely into her right eye. Blinking madly, Towhee otherwise ignored it as she raised her muzzle skyward and unleashed a shrill, wavering note of desperation.

Ever since Towhee's flight, Elfie returned to the blocked passage often. The scent trail of his aunt faded as more time passed, and he wondered, whether she had made over and gone to his family and told the story. Or had she fallen and died there, leaving her pack entirely on their own.

Time flows differently, when you are trapped and have nothing else to do, but to wait and hope that something miraculous is going to happen and solve everything. The boy had begun to lose weight, because the food was becoming scarce, and hunger is no good companion, when you anticipate something.

So - on the day, when Towhee's dark form appeared at the top of the pile again and he heard her shaky howl, it felt as if weeks had passed since their last meeting. "Towhee!" he called out to her, his tail wagging madly. From his viewpoint he could not see, how badly battered and injured she was. All that mattered was that she was alive. And here.

At first, she thought Elfie was just a smear of blood clouding her vision. Then she realized it was her nephew down below, looking decidedly careworn but happy to see her. She saw him call her name and opened her mouth again to call back to him. She wasn't sure what she was going to say. Hell, she didn't know what she was going to do now. But perhaps she should start by asking how he and the others were doing.

But the instant she went to speak, her vision went dark and she slumped. She didn't hear Sugar's quiet cry of alarm behind her, nor anything else Elfie might've said, of course. Towhee swam in and out of consciousness for several beats, moaning loudly under her breath, before finally going very still... well out of anyone's reach.

Down below, Sugar saw her sister pass out and sent up the loudest cry of her young life. "Help! Somebody please help! Towhee needs help at the pass!" She hoped someone (or two, or three...) over at the copse would hear. Meanwhile, she peered at treacherous incline, knowing it was too dangerous to attempt and feeling utterly helpless.

Tagging Firebirds (trying to avoid double taps): @Wraen @Finley @Elwood @Eljay @Niamh @Chanel @Weejay @Fennec @Crow

Something had felt a bit better, knowing Towhee was there. It was not without a great deal of worry that she returned to her den, giving her friend a bit of peace to rest, but surprisingly, her son- who happened to pass by- seemed gentled by the knowledge that Towhee was there and that she was injured- and he offered a bit of empathy, for once. So he cared about Towhee, at least- and maybe he cared about her feelings a bit too. She did her best to put on a brave face and reassure him that Towhee was tough as nails and that she would be alright, and the two parted ways as Bronco headed back to his own den. Part of her hoped that he might stay with her, but part of her knew that if he did, eventually they would end up arguing, and she didn't want to spoil the little bit of peace that they had found in each other's company. She watched her son walk off and smiled slightly to herself. Maybe things weren't going to be too bad after all. Towhee would stay with them for a while while she healed, and perhaps her presence might lighten her son's mood. Maybe all three of them could do something together; she felt her worry lessen slightly, and she curled up for a short nap, deciding that she'd bring something for Towhee to eat once she awoke. 

But when she showed up where Towhee had been left to rest, with a partridge in her mouth, Towhee wasn't there. Maybe she'd gone for a drink, or perhaps Eljay had asked for her to go somewhere so he could treat her or check her out- so she followed her friend's scent, dismay creeping into her throat as a choking lump as she realized that Towhee's trail led instead toward the borders. And not to perform a patrol; no, Towhee had left. Niamh called out in concern, alerting the others to the fact that Towhee had slipped off, but that she was still injured. Niamh called out again as an afterthought, letting the rest of the pack know that she would track her friend down, and she asked for Bronco to resume her patrol along the borders, in case Towhee returned. She heard her son's wavering, concerned, but complying call in response, and she felt thankful that her son would listen to her, for once. 

She picked up a swift trot and set off after Towhee's trail, noticing quickly thereafter that at least Towhee wasn't alone- Sugar Glider, their young medic-in-training, had also gone out either with Towhee, or shortly after her. She was proud of the young girl- she was sweet, and of all the wolves in the pack it seemed that Bronco favoured her the most. Maybe she had gone to stop Towhee, and at least she had some medical training- more than Niamh, at least- and maybe she would be successful. Who, after all, could turn down any suggestion made by the sweet girl, especially with those endearingly dark and sparkling eyes? Still, her hope was clouded by confusion and worry. Towhee was returning to her home far too early. Maybe Niamh should have stayed with her- maybe she should have woken up earlier. Maybe, if she'd simply left the partridge hunting, she could have stopped Towhee before she'd left. Nothing could change what had happened now, but she could only hope she'd reach the Grove in time to stop Towhee from doing anything foolish. And that little part of her that always seemed to be right already began warning her that she was wrong in hoping for such a thing. 

She heard Sugar's desperate plea for aid, following a shaky call from Towhee, and hastily called out in reply so the girl would know she was on her way before she bolted, hastening her pace so that she could hopefully reach her friend in time. She was nearly breathless when she arrived at the rocky and steep incline which blocked the entrance to the Grove, where Sugar anxiously fretted. She raised her gaze to see the dark form of Towhee slumped against the rocky horizon, high above them. She hissed under her breath but took a fleeting moment to touch her chin to the top of Sugar's head, as though to smoothe the crease of concern over her eyes. "It's OK. Good job calling out," She said gratefully, though her voice was still laced with concern. Even if she did call out, Towhee wouldn't hear her- and she wasn't sure if Towhee was even conscious; she wasn't moving enough to give Niamh a strong indication either way. She wished that X could be there, so that he could at least stay with Towhee, keep her still, and let her know that help was there...The only thing was that Niamh had no idea how to help Towhee. 

Even if she made the climb- which she fully intended to do- she wasn't sure there was much she could do for Towhee. If the other side was as treacherous as this one, there was no way she would be able to guide her friend down the slope. If one of them stepped the wrong way, they could both tumble down the slope to their deaths. And Towhee was not only weak but injured as well. Still- they'd need more help than just Niamh being there- but at least if she was, she could relay any messages from below to Towhee. "I'm going up," She said to Sugar, with a tone that meant she would not be stopped. "Shout up to me if you see anything. She needs someone up there...If no one shows up again soon, call out again. We're going to need more help for this." She said, before she gave the girl one last look- thinking to herself that at least if something happened to her, Bronco would still have Sugar left as his friend. Wistfully the thought faded, and she turned her attention to the rough climb ahead. 

She knew it was pointless to shout out to Towhee to stay still, so she saved her breath and picked her way up, scrambling and sliding here and there, cursing loudly every time she lost a bit of ground. More than once she had to double back and try a different route, and a few times she narrowly avoided missing a slide of earth and rocks that she had caused by trying to grapple her way upwards. She did her best to amble over the loose rocks and stones that thumped against her hind knees as they let go, scraping the skin and flesh repeatedly, but she was still able and nimble-footed enough to make her way slowly up the incline. She simply assumed that Sugar would be watching, and would move out of the way when she sent rocks and dirt flying toward the ground. She had to keep her own eyes on the slope and couldn't look down to check on the girl every time some of the rocks came loose under her paws. She took breaks as she climbed, and only then would she check in on her neice, before she continued her ascent. 

She felt slightly dizzy from the effort by the time she reached the top, and slumped next to her friend, prepared to reach out and grab her if she shifted one way or another. She looked down to see the reddish form of Elfie below, but she didn't address him. She looked all along the rock pile for some easier way down, but felt discouraged to see that both sides of the rockpile blocking the entrance would be nearly impossible to navigate without risking further injury or death. And Towhee was in no shape to do much of anything. She gazed at her friend, and reached out to touch her nose to Towhee's cheek gently, hoping to see if she could merit a response. She didn't want to alarm Towhee and make her startle, so she made her movements slow and careful. "Damnit...I dunno how we're gonna get out of this one," She muttered softly to herself.

Wraen and @Fennec reached the strath around the time, when Niamh had already begun her climb up the rock wall and there was no way of calling her back to safety. Not knowing, what to do and not wishing to startle her sergeant-at-arms during a dangerous action, the Sovereign watched her packmate helplessly, with her heart beating hard and fast against her rib-cage. There was a sight of relief, when Towhee's body was reached and from, what she could see from her viewpoint, the leader of the grove had passed out, but was not yet dead. 

"Niamh, how is she?" she called out as loud as she could. "How are we going to get her down?" Because she did not have any immediate solutions in mind, but it was obvious that Towhee could not remain, where she was now.

Towhee did not answer and, since it was difficult to see, what was going up there, from the point, where the boy was standing, he began to believe that he had hallucinated. That he had simply imagined seeing his aunt up there.

Through narrowed eyes he spotted more commotion up there, sound of voices - some he believed to be familiar - reached him, but then all grew still and quiet. He waited for a while longer, his desperation grew stronger and stronger and then, he tipped his head back and gave out a long, mournful howl. 

With his head hung low, he walked in the forest despondently. 

Last one from me.

She remained dead to the world for long moments, though the brush of warmth beside her made Towhee stir. Her brow furrowed and she murmured under her breath, though her eyes remained closed. She went still again for a few heartbeats before abruptly waking. Not only did her eyes fly open, she sat up partially, her head knocking into Niamh's jaw, smearing it with blood.

The impact wasn't particularly painful, though righting herself so quickly certainly made Towhee's head swim. She muttered something unintelligible as she struggled to focus. "Nee...?" she managed, squinting and drawing her head backward to look at the golden she-wolf. "Mm... I... hall—?" Yeah, that word had far too many syllables to manage right now.

A moment later, a long, protracted groan eked its way out of her throat. She felt pain slam into her head, ribs and thigh, all at once, like a switch had been flipped. Towhee began to pant and squirm, blinking a fresh trickle of blood out of her eye as she clung to this semblance of consciousness.

This was one helluva situation. There she was, having finally made it up the steep incine to Towhee, fairly weakened by the endeavour, and now she lay alongside her friend who was both weak and injured, and they'd have to figure out some way down. Wraen's voice chimed out over the thick but steady pulse of blood she could hear in her ears, but she took some time before she answered. Towhee came to, slightly, but was still too weary to put much of a sentence together. How foolish she could be, Niamh thought...And selfish. To endanger not only herself but others as well- there was no way she couldn't have expected for someone to go after her, and for the life of her, Niamh couldn't figure out whether Towhee was just being foolish and blind, or if she simply didn't care. 

"Yeh, just gimme a min," She said to Towhee, though she wasn't sure her friend was even looking her way to get the message. She opened her mouth to shout to Wraen- "Gonna hafta bring her down," She shouted hoarsely, frustration ringing in her voice, and as she looked down at Towhee, her friend had begun to writhe in a manner that for some reason reminded Niamh of Screech- when he'd had his concussion. And that was an area in Niamh's psyche that was still just as tender as it had been then. 

She knew Towhee was hurting- but she couldn't be left on the precipice by herself, so Niamh reached down and grabbed Towhee's scruff, biting down hard enough to make sure she wouldn't let her go, numb to any pain it might cause her friend. She began to tug at her friend until the two of them began to slide down the scree, doing her best to keep them at least upright, though her attempt was met with only relative success. No matter what, though, she kept her hold on her friend- and when she did get separated from her, she was quick to propel herself in Towhee's direction to grab at her again as the two half-slid, half-tumbled down the loose, rocky slope. Once they were close enough to the bottom, Niamh let Towhee go and simply allowed herself to tumble the rest of the way, sending small rocks and pebbles flying and rolling ahead of her until eventually she came to a halt, too exhausted and bruised to move.

Niamh had a creative and practical approach in bringing down the unconscious alpha from the top of the rock pile. Wraen watched in awe and racing heart, while her Sergeant at Arms manouvred the heavy and important load all the way down. There were probably some rougher bumps along the road, but a little annoyed voice in Sovereign's head told her that it would not make Towhee's condition any worse and that she deserved it for being stupid and reckless.

Once down Wraen examined the heap of warm flesh and fur before her, was glad to hear the she-wolf breathing and her heartbeat going steady. Then with combined efforts of all, who had gathered here, they brought Towhee back to the safety of Sun Mote Copse.