Haunted Wood When I was a young boy

Fear....panic....
That's what he felt. His heart was racing and he had a pit in his stomach, a heavy sharp feeling that grew with every breath. Vanity's blood trailed toward her den with the scent of a feline, the combination had him picturing her belly sliced open on the den floor with her pups.

No...No...No

Eyes wide he rushed the mouth of the woman's den, not announcing himself before standing there looking about close to tears before seeing she was there and alive. Messed up but alive. He sucked in a breath and held it for a moment, staring at her and then releasing it feeling his fur burn hot with embarrasment. "I...I smelled the blood. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to come in like that" his voice started shaky and steadied out, slowly returning to the tone that held itself at about room temperature warmth for everyone. Stepping back quickly till he was outside he ducked his head "You should let me take care of you...I mean the wounds" he awkwardly said trying to sound firm about it like he was going to force medical care on her but it came out more like a concerned plea, silver eyes looking at her with the vulnerable concern of a child who'd just thought she was possibly dead or dying moments before.

She stank of cat, but it was ok. It wasn't too bad.
Her babies were concerned, whining and trying to see what was wrong, but she turned her shoulder from them.
She panted. It had been a long way back, and night had long since closed on her as she struggled to make it back. But she did, for her children.

A rushing, brushing on the grass outside had her bristling and ready to snap at whatever came into her den. Something may have followed her trail, and she was ready to fight them despite her injuries. She wouldn't let her babies be harmed.

But Valour's face poked in, his broad frame filling the entrance.
She nearly snapped at him, but luckily she didn't.
She followed him out of her den.
Her shoulder burned, probably from loping here. She shouldn't have gone out like that.

"I've lost a lot of blood," she replied. She felt weak now. The only thing keeping her going really was adrenaline. But she wanted t sleep so bad.
"Infection, cat claws are dirty," perhaps he knew what she needed. Vanity knew how to stop bleeding, and patches of moss had clung to some parts of the gaping lacerations, but mostly fallen out.

As she stepped into the light outside the den the wound came into view. Silver eyes studied the way the slashes were formed and his brain made the connection to his own and the wounds that Clarence and Guardian carried. It was a feline that had done this....add them to the list of creatures he hated with every fiber of his being. "Cats are dirty in general" no good dirty thieves. With claws and teeth that they should not have been given together....the sharpest things he'd felt tear through his flesh. Staring at the wound for a beat too long he looked to her, ears shifting back before he slowly moved his muzzle toward it. He was careful not to touch it but felt the heat radiating off of it with the thrum of her pulse, the infection had hit hard and fast. Nodding he pulled back "sit down Vanity, Please. I'll go to serem's den" his eyes flashed at the mention of the woman, what was she doing to help out anymore? Where had she been amidst the planning to go rescue her own child? Turning he ran off entering the den to find......there was nothing left but the herbs that he was sure he'd chewed to fix his own burning infections before. Grabbing them he also snagged a few poppies, two for her when she came down from the fever and two that he was quick to leave in his den on the way back so she wouldn't question him. It took him about fifteen minutes due to the search for moss and brambles and then he returned with a mouthful of protruding herbs that he spat out on the ground. 
Seperating the roots out he lifted his head and looked her in the eyes, his voice perhaps a bit overdramtically grave due to his concern as he announced "there isn't anything left and I don't know anything about how to find these" he then licked up most of the roots to chew and then scooted forward eyeing her for permission before he would begin to lick the pulp and juices of the root into her wound, getting the medicine into the flesh while stimulating the blood vessels with his tongue and cleaning the wound as gingerly as he could. 

She could feel the mirth radiating from him.
Disgust for the felines.
What she'd faced was worse than one lynx, and they did well to fight and kill two.

She sat obediently. Half wondering if Serem would even come to see what Valour needed medical items for. She didn't have high hopes, the Médica would come.
She licked her wound while she waited, noting too why Valour was so worried. The heat on her tongue was heavy. She didn't expect infection to come this quick. Or was it just inflammation?
She wouldn't stop him though.

When he returned, he seemed dejected.
He had the stuff, did he fight with Serem?
No, he didn't have enough experience.
​"I only know of what is available in the mountains," she replied. She knew of some tough grasses and pain curing ointments that she'd not seen the ingredients for in this land.
It was much colder here, and she only recognised a few things.

"There are some who travel and provide medical treatments, often for a price is possible. Like food. But they also store their items in caches in the areas they reside," she grinned. They were still Nightwalkers yet.
"You can ask for them to teach you, or steal from their caches. You'll be able to smell it," especially if something was potent in there which made it stand out from the surrounding vegetation.

She spoke while he worked, using it as a distraction. Sometimes her voice hitched on her words, or there was a harsher breath when he touched a particularly sensitive area.

His ears flicked up as he pulled back giving her  her a curious glance at the mention of herbs in the mountains before returning to the wound checking it over once more as she continued. It brought him deeper into his own head, considering it heavily. So far he hadn't anywhere to be but here and nothing to do but...wait. While it wouldn't be something he was used to it would focusing on something that gave him a break from....everything Nightwalkers had made him into. Valour wondered if she understood the weight of what she'd said, the information she'd given him had opened a door to a new life that he could choose to take...or not to. "That would be something...learning medicine" he said softly as be pulled away from her sitting on his haunches to let the medicine sink into the sliced flesh before he'd apply the bandaging and secure it a trick he'd taught himself using brambles. Silver orbs focused on the masked face and he once again was struck by the early memory of finding her beautiful. Smiling he dropped his gaze and nudged the moss closer to distract himself from that "Would you want me to find you again?" he asked his voice vulnerable as he refused to meet her gaze. Tremulously he spoke again "In the future..if I decide to go seek out these healers. Or...do you prefer we just go seperate ways now that Nightwalkers.." his breath cut him off and he swallowed thickly leaning down and grabbing the moss quieting himself by leaning in to start placing it across the wounds gently pressing it in to pack it tight. 

They were quiet for a moment, save for her softly ragged breathing.
She didn't like to show she was weak, that she was less than others. But her time here had taught her that...it wasn't all bad. At least not with Valour as the Warlord.

But she was going back out into that world. Soon.
She'd be taking Surya back to his pack.
She'd try and keep Arwen by her side.
She'd find Abaddon and kill that sum of a bitch for stealing a child. Because of what? He had a grudge against Vengeance? Did he intent to kill the boy?

"Of course I want you to," she looked to him in earnest, surprised the question came across.
"I thought of you like..a son. I didn't want to interfere and have Vengeance try and stop me from helping you, so I just watched. And made sure you didn't die." She looked away sheepishly. She did feel parental instincts towards him, just not strong enough. And she couldn't explain that.
"I killed my own children once, and I was still working through it..."

Her voice trailed off, quiet and shaky, controlling her emotions.
She couldn't look at him.

It was only because he had his face turned to her wound that she wouldn't see the way his eyes widened, silver and black misting over for a moment before the moistness was blinked away. Gritting his teeth together he stopped moving and the skin along his spine shivered for a moment as he fought between the overwhelming desire to throw his head around hers and hug her and continue treating her wounds. Catching the sound of her ragged breath he opted to treat her and gingerly picked up a bramble between his teeth and placed it at the edge of her wound in her fur where he secured the moss to it and repeated silently one by one until her wound was bandaged properly. Marvelling at what was the first proper treatment he had done for anyone other than himself and Clay he was struck again by her words this time his gaze flying to her turned face. They all carried some shit with them and he remembered Memory telling him the orders he'd carried out for his old alpha, how he'd seemed almost too past what he'd done. Vanity looked....wrecked. "Keep your head away from that shit. You have kids now...Living healthy ones that you've done amazingly by. Leshen and Arwen are the only ones who haven't tried to book it when they realised they have legs. Even Guardian went for it" he didn't know how to comfort someone who carried such a terrible memory, such a terrible thing done by their own jaws but he could try. In fact....moving close he gently stretched out his chin aiming to place it on her shoulder if allowed and then nestle closer against her chest as much like a child as he could at his size "you'll always be my...my mom and a better Nightwalker than anyone could have aspired to be. Vengeance sucked and i'm...really glad you did better than him" the word stumbled awkwardly, tripping from his lips in barely more than a murmur as half fogged images of a tiny little brown and white she wolf smiling down at him slipped further and further away. All he could focus on was the masked woman right here, the one who'd given him the hope and determination he needed to keep him warm in the cold world that had been their life for a year now. 

not crying at all right now. Not one tear.

I'm totally not crying either. Definitely nothing

She stared ahead as he secured the moss.
She felt numb in her throat, her legs.
The images that had plagued her time and time again would come and go forever.
She wouldn't be able to escape them, but she could escape the guilt.

But he was right.
She shouldn't think about it. She knew she'd have nightmares about it though.
She chuckled softly at his comment, realising that yeah, they all had.
"They know I'd just bring 'em right back. Plus, I've told them how hard hunting is," she winked. Her pair of baby beans could be controleld by food, and if she promised them enough of it, for free, until she was sure they would be ok, then sure.
Even if she turned eleven, and Leshen asked her to catch him a deer, she would.

He seemed moved by what she'd confessed to him, and now moved closer for comfort.
She accepted him happily, resting her chin on his head, trying really really hard not to cry.
"He was really stinky wasn't he," she managed to choke out, for the sake of not saying or thinking something that would break her.
Moving his body, she didn't think he could smell worse, but he did then.

"We'll both be Nightwalkers, and family."
She looked at him, smiling softly.
In the den, an echo of a sleeping sqeak emitted.
They are safe.

"Seeing you storming after me would be enough to keep me home even without the free food" he couldn't help but smile even pressed against her fur. The warmth of her wound and body finally struck him and his breath froze in his lungs. Aside from snuggling Clay and Clarence he'd never touched anyone except to hurt them or give a nudge here and there....it felt nice. Then she managed a comment about the Warlord turned Wormfood that immediately brought a deep burst of laughter from his belly to his maw muffled against her fur for a moment but felt by the shaking of his chest before he pulled away sobering at the emotional tag on. "you ever need me then come find me. I will be keeping up with Hydra as long as she'll welcome me. For now i'm...going to those mountains. I want to know how to save the lives of the wolves i'll be teaching to fight one day" he smirked and looked around the woods wistfully "Maybe I'll take these back. I'll be more prepared to lead then" he wanted her to know that he would never stop trying to be better, to be greater than Vengeance ever could be and have a pack that would stand for years and create a legacy. 

She snorted at his comment.
Yeah, she supposed pups were scared of her.
Some adults too.

She looked at him with adoration.
The young boy Vengeance had found and brought here, now a leader in his own right.
He'd been trained for this, but not enough. Hela stole that from him.

"Of course. I encourage you to do so," she smiled softly. She would be taking Venny's skull. She wouldn't have a word against her about that.
"I will perhaps raise my own pack, and we can have an alliance," she smirked. Yeah, she would perhaps do that.

Nobody ever looked at him like that.
But....for a moment there was a soft tan furred woman...voice sweeter than honey telling him about flowers. 

The memory faded quickly and he was content to let it. His mother was lost to him but Vanity had been there...nobody in these woods could ever be perfect but Vanity was good in her own way. Kindness and love still existed even in wolves with the sharpest teeth and darkest thoughts swirling inside their minds. "If you do find me. I might need a home to work for again if everything else fails" he was sure she'd have more luck rallying wolves to follow her lead anyway and after the past few months as Warlord the dream of leading his own pack was one he was okay taking his time with. Still wrapped up in sentamentality he gave her a warm smile "Remember that spar When you taught me how to protect myself and praised me? You're the reason I decided to work harder and rise up" he ducked his head giving a small laugh embarrassed that it was such a simple thing that had given him the fight to be better. "Vengeance...nothing was good enough for him. I wasn't good enough. But you...never ragged on me" he was a better man because she had told him he could be, supported him and encouraged him. "I guess um..I'm trying to say thank you for...showing me what having someone care about you feels like" was he going to cry? He swallowed the lump down and blinked quickly sucking in a deep breath and grinning "We're getting way too soft and you should go snuggle your kids. I'll check up on the wound when you wake up, give me a holler" 

He zoned out for a moment but came back before she could ask.
And didn't want to pry really.
"Of course," she smirked. She'd try and make her own pack again.

"How can I expect to have someone work hard if they're just shit on?" she smirked. Vengeance's teaching methods were crap. He had no idea what he was doing with the kids.
But wouldn't listen. But whatever, Valour turned out ok.
She dipped his head to him, "Vengeance wasn't good enough himself, that's why," she lifted her head again, giving him a sideways look, "and he liked to kick a kids ass because he couldn't kick mine," a lie, but it would cheer him up. He didn't need the negativity from that man plaguing him.

She snorted, "You say we're soft then tell me to snuggle."
Vanity grinned, tail thumping with good nature.
"Thank you for helping me," she smiled softly. God, she never smiled this fuckin much.
And she stood, and slipped inside her den.

His tail wagged at his hinds at the humor surprised that she seemed to have moved past the devotion he'd thought she'd had to the dead man. His ears shot up as she said that he couldn't kick her ass and he snorted grinning full on by now "Yeah the man was murdered by a little girl. Probably why he had everyone else do his shit" his eyes were much brighter then as she teased him for telling her to go rest and he ducked his head as he stood "We're soft...but we need to be sometimes" he watched her disappear inside his den and turned walking off and marking around her den careful not to do it anywhere her mate had but feeling the need to add more to ward off any harm. That was his family back there too now. 

I love Vanity so much. I hope they can thread again sometime in the future, he's about to go through another layer of pain *eyes emoji*