Dragoncrest Cliffs Gleypa

She wanted to tend to her family; to mourn her mother, and to cleanse the poison from her fur so that she could gather her loved ones who lay sprawled and scattered, and hold them close, dead and alive alike- but this stranger had intruded. She detested him for his intrusion, and for being just another man who did nothing. Her vision was still tinted rose from the blood that turned her eyes dark but she saw him only as a stranger to her. 

When he spoke, she tilted her head back and grimaced, her bloody teeth gleaming. His claim to Val seemed....Impossible. Valravn was her brother, and her mothers had never mentioned having brothers of their own. If a wolf was not mentioned, then it meant that they did not deserve being mentioned. She uttered a soft growl when he mentioned her mother's name. She looked to him, then, as if searching for some form of recognition, and was immediately seized by a strong sensation of déja vu. The bloodloss made her lips feel cold, and she felt herself growing dizzy. All of this- she'd seen it before. Long ago, in a time where she had been just a child. Her eyes drifted to Valravn, who lay prone. 

She was called back to reality when he insisted that Wing needed care. Selfishly, she wanted to care for them all herself; and ruefully, she considered demanding that he tend to her family first. 

She heard fear in Wing's voice. She would deny the brave young woman the attention, and she seemed willing to be cared for. If she got poison in her system...It would make her the casualty of friendly fire. Chacal did her best to keep herself upright; wavering, but not willing to succumb to the darkness that crept into the corners of her vision. 

She had to think fast. She did not want to reveal the pack's secret tunnel to the stranger, whether or not he was related to her. His relationship with Valravn was nothing more than claim- and her mother was no longer alive to vouch for him. Valravn was unconscious. Wing needed to be cleansed, as did she- and she knew that they could not spoil the lake with the toxins in their fur so they would have to go to the seaside. If only she had one more packmate there, conscious, to help. She feared leaving Valravn, Theo and Jorunn here, unconscious, with a stranger. It would have been the easiest route to take- if she'd taken Wing to the seaside with her, and left them in Svalinn's care- but she couldn't bring herself to abandon them. 

Accepting help from a stranger was nearly impossible, but her hand was forced. 

"To de West, an' t'rough de meadow. Dere be a tunnel, down to de shore." She said. "Take her dere, an' wash her fur." She said.

She still felt the impulse to cleanse her mother's fur; to allow herself to slip to the ground and fall asleep beside Erzulie, so that she might not have to live in a world without her...But not far away her son lay, breathing. She left her mother's side, so she might watch over Theo, knowing that her mother would understand why she had to abandon her vigil. She would stand watch over the three fallen warriors until they were well enough to move inland. 

And with the bitter aching of grief seeping into her veins, she gave her mother one last kiss- willing to accept the consequences, though they would not come for her. With aching paws she scraped a grave, and as lovingly as she could, she put Erzulie to rest in the frostbitten earth.