Firefly Glen I'm sorry if I hurt you, I'm sorry if it got that bad

She screamed until her lungs ran out of air, then she sucked in a huge breath and started screaming again. When the bear retreated, it startled her into silence. Then the the eagle took to the air in the next beat and it broke her out of her gridlock, her head rocking on her neck. She swallowed as the bird of prey disappeared, her eyes cutting away in a random direction. They dropped and locked with a pair of eyes, glassy with pain and pleading, the face from which they peered mauled beyond recognition. But that gaze was oh so familiar. Meerkat felt another scream building in her throat.

Oblivious to Hydra's gentle commands directed at her, Meerkat somehow managed to swallow the third cry. Brown eyes still locked on what was left of Toad's face, she moved closer to her friend, dropping down beside her. It was unbearable to look at her, yet Meerkat refused to tear her gaze away. Tears gathered in her eyes and wobbled as she put her paw gently on top of one of her friend's. She must be in so much pain and there was nothing Meerkat could do for her except sit there, crying and holding her hand.

Well, she was a life coach, wasn't she? "Hang in there, Toad, you're gonna be okay," she whispered, her throat raw and her voice nearly gone as tears kept spilling down her face. "It's going to be okay." They would find a healer to mend her face. Surely even these wounds could heal. She might be a little disfigured, yet that was okay. Toad would still be beautiful, especially so for the sacrifices she'd made to protect her pack. And Meerkat would still find her a husband, someone who could appreciate the beauty of such battle scars...

A soft voice spoke from close by: "I am here." The young adult's watery eyes finally lifted to see the angelic face of Kukutux, come to save their friend. Meerkat's other paw slipped forward so that she gripped Toad's tightly between both of hers, as if hoping to tether her to this mortal plane until the medic could perform a miracle.