Swiftcurrent Creek Tidal

So far from the sea, Coraline scarcely felt alive anymore. The wound across her chest had become infected two days prior, significantly slowing her in her journey to reach the place of her birth. Now she was dimming; gripped by fever, unable to hunt for herself. A death sentence for a lone wolf.

Aware that her pride must be set to the side for now, she stopped for the first pack she encountered. She called out to the wolves who made their home here, and settled to wait for someone to arrive, ignoring the throbbing in her chest.

Sorry 'bout his mood. :c

With borders that had quieter the past few weeks, it seemed an inopportune time for lone wolves to begin discovering them now.

There was a call to the creek wolves, and Akavir, on high alert, was swift in his descent to the caller. His eyes remained stoical, pale champagne stealing over fur of ember. Injured? His nose quivered with the scent of it, and instantly, his guard was up—was this wolf part of the fight at the swamp, with Moss?

He wasn’t usually one to draw out small talk. Particularly now. “How did you gain your injury?” Brusque, perhaps, the Alpha’s muscled form remained stiff as he finally closed enough distance between them, waiting for the stranger to speak.

He arrived to the borders at his brother's heel, dark eyes sharp and searching. His ears were thrust forward and his brow was furrowed to accompany the frown upon his muzzle, which deepened considerably as the scent of rot invaded his nose.

The source was quick to be located, and Viinturuth curled his upper lip at the inflamed, infected wound that festered at the she-wolf's breast.

He had no words to offer, but merely lingered in preparation to make use of his fangs should Akavir have need of them.

His eyes were pale and guarded. Coraline tensed a little in response to his agitation, wary of provoking the pack wolf in her injured state. Cat, She answered without hesitation in a voice feathered by the accent of Sapphique. Curiosity flickered in her eyes. Expectin' trouble?

He certainly looked as if he was. Already she'd made up her mind to try another pack, but Coraline lingered in hopes that she might be surprised. The infection would only worsen; if she could avoid delaying treatment, she would, no matter the cost.

He could feel Viinturuth’s presence before the ivory warrior sidled closer to his side. His eyes remained upon the rogue, though, and at her swift response, he felt some of his tension ease—

—unless she was lying. “Yeah, I am,” he replied—again, straight to the point.

With that, the man tipped his muzzle back, a quick howl beckoning @Eshe to him—as swift as she could be. She would verify if the lone wolf had something to do with the swamp scenario—and if she hadn’t, he was sure the Epsilon would be able to take a closer look at her infection.

When his howl ended, his features remained unmoving, spare for a humorless quirk at the corner of his lips. “Just verifying something,” he rumbled.

Eshe arrived soon after being called, and quietly examined the situation with care. She saw two unfamiliar wolves. One had a slight scent of Akavir, while the other smelled infected due to their injury.

Her heart and stomach flipped—what had happened? What was going on?

She stood near the leader, their shoulders almost touching and looked up at him with curious eyes. She was eager to help, but recent events had made their border policies stricter.

His dark gaze was piercing, boring down on the russet-pelted wolfess as Akavir tilted his muzzle skyward in demand of another's attention. He gave voice to no words as they waited, and a short time after a sterling figure appeared from between the foliage.

Viinturuth regarded her only briefly as she veered to the Alpha's opposite side, and his attention shifted once more to monitor the situation.

I'm so sorry I didn't see Viinturuth's post at first, can we just pretend I didn't totally ignore him LOL

She wasn't sure what to make of his response, or the woman he called for. Her gaze shifted between the three wolves, but she was silent. Whatever the dark-furred wolf expected, it clearly wasn't happening; the woman seemed confused.

Coraline studied the nervous woman a moment longer, then looked back to who she presumed was the leader. She waited for his judgment. Just verifying something — but what?

There was a spanning silence between them all—the equivalent comfort of an elevator ride with awkward music. When Eshe appeared, she seemed uncertain of herself—and he studied her quietly, noting no recognition in her eyes as she studied the stranger. “Was she one of the wolves at the swamp?”

Overly cautious, perhaps. Only a fool would come to the scented borders of wolves they had skirmished with only days prior—but he had to make sure.

“If not, and you're amicable to it, Eshe, you can probably tend her wounds, if she wants.” And with that, the man looked back to the she-wolf, his tail shifting through the air, still on alert. He still considered them on lockdown. “On the borders. We're not allowing visitors to just come in for a quick sleep and some of our resources before they leave.” A pointed look was given to the injured woman.

”No,” Eshe answered once she’d studied the woman in front of them one last time. “I don’t recognize her.” Coraline was too young to be the woman who went after Mae.

She turned her attention to the other woman as Akavir spoke. She nodded and smiled. “I’m happy to, if that’s alright with you,” the choice was hers. “I just need a rundown of all your injuries so I’m sure I can get everything I need to heal you up.”

The silver she-wolf failed to recognise their visitor as anyone involved in Swiftcurrent's recent altercation, yet Viinturuth continued to regard her with quiet suspicion. He wondered where she came from and how she'd gotten on such a poor state. She claimed a cat had been responsible for her wound, but the pale ranger couldn't shake that feeling of doubt.

Perhaps she'd caused trouble, somewhere. Perhaps she was running from someone.

He remained on guard as the one Akavir named as Eshe stepped forward to regard the outsider with a medic's eye. Viinturuth made to exchange a glance with his ebony littermate that communicated: is this a good idea?

Wolves at the swamp. Coraline's expression was unchanged as she listened, but she was suddenly intrigued. It explained their guarded response, but she wondered now if they were the source of the conflict or the victims. Either way, did she want to be involved?

Yes. Definitely yes.

To the woman, she nodded. Just de one. T'ank you, She said quietly, and turned her attention back to the alpha. Her voice was a little stronger, clearer when she spoke next. An' if de visitor be lookin' to join? Sapphique could wait; it would always be there, always, even if the sun fell from the sky and scorched all the rest of the world to dust. The coast was far, and her need could not wait.

He felt Viinturuth’s eyes shift to him—knew the man’s thoughts without having to even turn his head to face him—his bonded brother. Eshe, however, was eager to assist the stranger, and he looked to her now—in her element.

At the question stated with an alluring accent, the man straightened, ears flickering forward, posture still rigid. She was looking to join—even after the less than welcoming greeting they had given her?

“Then you’ll need to tell me more about yourself.”

Eshe inched a step closer and couched down to get a better look at the wound. It wasn’t pretty, but it was salvageable. To fight the infection, she needed horsetail. Once it began to heal, she would use mallow and nettle leaves to make an ointment. Thankfully, she had everything in stock.

“Do you have a fever?” she asked, standing up. “I can bring some borage leaves for that, too, if you need it.” Her heart skipped a beat at the mention of borage leaves. She’d planned on using them to try produce milk, but, now, she was happy to use it on somebody who needed it.

She’d been replaying the chain of events from that horrible, horrible day, and had decided she wasn’t fit to be the child’s mother. She was  too selfish and had been all too eager to risk their life to satisfy her dream. Although she hoped her time would come some day, she was starting to understand why it hadn’t happened for her yet.

She stepped back to stand behind Akavir as he asked to know more, and she waited—curious for all the answers the other woman was about to give.

Akavir did not look his way, and Viinturuth felt the frustrated twitch in his lip. He'd placed Swiftcurrent on lockdown, had he not? There was an ire in the pale ranger to offer aid to rogues they did not know, could not trust. Things were strained and though he was so very newly returned, he had his concerns.

Provoking an argument was not something he wished to do with his brother, however, so Viinturuth exhaled a rumbling breath and followed the sterling wolfess' movements with a sharp burgundy stare. From Akavir's flank he shifted to circle the small group, placing himself off to the side of the wounded stranger to trap her in place should she have any tricks tucked up her sleeve.

Coraline's account has been given to Twin and this thread was requested to fade with Coraline not staying within SCC. <3

The visitor wasn’t overly keen on sharing much of herself—thus, when the man sidestepped to allow Eshe control of the situation, his eyes were calculating on her. Then, looking to his brother, he felt the feral pull of his lips—knowing his littermate felt the exact same as him in this matter—and despite any protest Eshe might have had, he planned on evicting the she-wolf the moment Eshe was finished tending her.