The war is over

Wynter stood up and walked into a clearing. Wincing with every step. The cuts on her shoulder were deep and painful. Although she saw no need to worry.  It would make sense to go to the beach perhaps and wash of some of the dry blood. However, no amount of pain or suffering was going to make her want to go swimming.

 She didn't walk far but she decided to lay down in the sunlight. When she was fleeing she saw some of the injuries of the other wolves. Some of them had it a lot worse than her. Unfortunately one had lost their life. The young pup who never seemed to like her. Yet still she grieved. 

No one was supposed to be killed in that fight. Just injured. We were supposed to get the pup back. We lost. They were much to strong a pack. She took a moment to just look up at the sky. He will never be forgotten.

Then glancing around again at the injured wolves she wished she could help them in some way. She did not know of any herbs however, that would be able to help. She disliked her limited knowledge of the nature but flowers and berries were not her specialty.


OOC: AW this is after the battle. As you all could probably tell. Minor tribute to Kevlyn. Not very good at them but figured i ought to put one in.

Her disorient was quite real. The youth had lost some blood, though the injury itself was not so bad. It stung, and it only bled so much when her stride was too long. It had scabbed over at least, but she wished to open it so that the Mother could cleanse it fully. Leucothoë did have knowledge of herbs, and would help how she could. The issue was that herbs were difficult to find... but some were coming to, now, in Springs first bloom.

Leucothoë saw the wolf ahead, noting her somber mood. It was one shared. Not yet did the sterling youth approach her, first moving toward the Sea. Leucothoë still did not know who exactly it was they had lost, not realizing Kevlyn had left the sound at all. Turning her head to nip open the sore wound, Leucothoë then slid into the waters, wincing at the burn but knowing now, she was in the Mothers hands.

OOC:Thinking Reek and Leu could use this as a healer thread for trades and such.


The bastard followed behind the others in an awkward, three legged lockstep, struggling to keep up and not tumble into the ground like his body wanted him to.  Everything was a haze since the bloodbath and the ragged wolf's vision faded in and out of focus as he panted heavily.  He had lost quite a bit of blood at the paws of the Rekkr and Reek struggled to stay coherent and alert as the world bent and breathed around him... distorting, twisting, turning.  A dizzy smog gripped his mind.

The long and jagged tear in his side where Tyrr had ripped into the bastard still slowly seeped scarlet.  With every step another shot of pain radiated from the gash.  If nothing was done, it would likely fester.  Luckily, the sea was close and the bastard could clean his wounds without the need for any anti-bacterial balm (even though he had none anyway... winter was a cold, hard, bitch).  Where the sequoias met the water, Reek followed Leucothoe blindly into the sea and collapsed into the shore break to be consumed by the waves.  The bastard grimaced in pain as the water ran over the laceration in his side... at least it would be clean.  

Reek's dislocated left leg dangled freely in the water.  It would have to be set soon, but, the ragged wolf couldn't set it on his own without risking a fracture to his rotator cuff. The angle was too awkward; it would have to be done by someone else. "E-ever, set a bone b-before?" sputtered the bastard between the waves as loud as he could, (which in this situation wasn't that loud at all) breaking the somber silence. "I can t-talk you th-through it."  

Wynter watched as Leucothoe and Reek walked into the water to clean their wounds. Something was wrong with Reeks leg and he shouted something Wynter couldn't make out from where she was laying. She began to lick at her wounds in an attempt to clean them so as to prevent infection. Even though she refused to go into the water this did not mean she wanted to risk her life from infection. Her wounds were still bleeding but she admitted less than earlier. 

She walked closer to where the two wolves were and sat down closer perhaps for comfort. She would rather not be alone. Not after that. "How bad are your injuries you two?" she asked. She wondered if they had it worse off than she did. Her wounds were deep but certainly not something that wouldn't heal over time.

 Hey she finally would have some scars to show for her effort. She wasn't sure how badly she had injured the black fae she fought. However she knew she landed at least one good hit on her. Wynter needed to work on her skills if there was to be more battles.

dumbstruck, caiaphas wandered behind her failed battalion, her eyes crusted with weariness. a sickly rheum had infiltrated her sleepless gaze, and her gaunt frame seemed besieged by crumbling exhaustion. they had failed -- moreover, she had failed them -- the goddesses the nereides worshipped were rhadamanthine in their decree, and not even the survivors were spared of their grief.

kevlyn's death had impacted the siren queen with irrevocable sorrow, so much that she withdrew inwardly with the aspect of a hermit. while her packmates settled about themselves, tending to their wounds and exchanging glances, caiaphas sat limp and let her sores fester.

Exhausted and trembling, Phantom collapsed at a heap at the water's edge. The waters were her pack mates lay was turned red with blood, her included. Her head was hung in defeat as she stood slumped in the waves, the salt adding extra agony to the huge gash already on her chest. They had failed so badly. All of them. And Larus was probably dead, seeing how they had just killed another pup in front of them. They were a pack of child killers, the bastards.

Phantom promised herself that she would protect her own pups with her life. But now, in her current state, she definitely couldn't. Defeated, she slumped at the waters edge and closed her eyes, but the pain was so fierce she could not sleep.

Leucothoë heard rather than saw Reek fall into the waters behind her. His speaking to her was less than appreciated at the given time, but she grit her teeth knowing that they were all stressed, all worn from this war. It was an unfair battle; the Sea had told them that they would be watched, and watched they were. But what the Sea had not told them was of their loss. The sterling youth could not know how deeply it effected her leader, and listened to the voice of Reek as he spoke above the Mother. 

She had never set a bone. 

Leucothoë regarded Reek with a stony look, her resolve stern as she steeled herself. Tell me what to do. Leucothoë would learn, hungry to know how to do this. When Wynter approached, she gestured at his leg. He is bad. In the distance lingered their Matriarch; Leucothoë would attend to her, too. 

The sounds melded together into a muffled cacophony.  Everything was garbled and the bastard struggled to discern what the others were saying.  How bad?   Bad.  Real bad.  "I'm f-fine," creaked the sputtering Reek to Wynter. "The bleeding,  i-it's stopping."  Acute blood loss was nothing to wag a finger at, and the ragged wolf had lost a lot, resulting in a mild delirium.  "Wynter... Get m-me something to bite... this is g-g-gonna hurt like a bitch," he added with a weak chuckle as the other prospective healer approached him to learn how to set the bone back.

"Leu, you're a g-goddamn ray of sunshine," he deliriously quipped to the stone-faced priestess as he lightly tapped her with his good paw.  The ragged wolf cracked a weak grin.  Normally, Reek would have addressed the priestess with the proper respect that the nereides demand, but in his delirium, social foray wasn't high on his list of priorities at the moment.  "Real s-simple shit, Leu," The bastard had begun his explanation as he motioned weakly to his bum leg. "You're just gonna want to get the b-ball of my humorous, b-back into the r-r-rotator cuff.  Just grab my l-leg. L-lift and s-slightly twist... until you hear a pop, a-and I scream." Reek launched into a fit of feeble laughter.  "I-I'm being s-serious on that one... This is gonna hurt," he sputtered dryly through delirious heaves.

Wynter looked at Leucothoe when she answered her question and nodded. She knew she was gunna have to help. She nodded at Leucothoe letting her know she would be willing to help if needed. Then when Reek mentioned a stick  she hopped up ignoring the pain in her shoulder and half trotted half sprinted into the forest to find one that would be strong enough that he wouldnt snap it. 

While she was looking around she almost managed to trip over a tree root. Wouldnt have helped her cause. Aha the perfect stick. She picked it up in her jaw and quickly made her way back to where the two were standing. She placed the stick at Reeks feet. Hoping that would be strong enough. She took a quick glance at the siren queen and made the executive decision that after she was done helping here she would make sure the queen was fine. The siren did not look mortally injured. She was just grieving. 

"Anything i can do to help Leucothoe?" she asked calling her by her full name. Wynter wasnt one for nicknames she felt people had a name not to have it shortened. but she understood why he may have shortened it. He was in a lot of pain she could tell just by the look on his face.

Along with the others, Nesaea followed, her head bowed and eyes flicking up only to periodically check where Leucothoe was. The gash under her left eye stung as the wind blew against it, and the punctures on her neck — while not life-threatning — throbbed painfully. She wasn't too worse for wear, however, compared to the others of the mob who woefully made their way back into the Sound. As they came upon the comforting sight of the sea, the ragged sirens and the single consort (Nesaea was unaware that they had lost one to the Duskfire wolves) all seemed to simply collapse in exhaustion.

The silver girl hung back, keeping the blood-stained side of her face hidden from view. While she knew they couldn't care less about appearances at the moment — for they all looked as bad as each other — she couldn't bare to face the other sirens with her face in such a state. The sound of weak and shaky laughter caused her to glance up, looking over to where Wynter and Leucothoe stood over the rangy consort. He seemed to have taken the most damage, especially his leg which hung limply as he explained to her sister how to fix it back into place. Despite his condition being most likely the worst of them all, why they were helping the male first caused Nesaea's eyes to considerably darken, and she stalked past them towards the white-furred siren who lay within the shallows of the ocean.

She would have gone to the Matriarch first, however she had withdrawn, sitting a ways from the battered group, seemingly introspective. Either battling with the pain of her wounds or their failure she couldn't be sure, but Nesaea decided to leave her be for the moment. Drawing up beside Phantom, the youth nudged her awake with her muzzle, leaving a faint print of her own blood upon the siren's white fur. She stared at it sombrely for a moment before speaking, "Do not sleep." She had about as much training in healing as Leucothoe, but knew it was never wise to sleep after losing large amounts of blood.

a soft nudge woke her completely, and she painfully twisted her neck to see a silver fae. For a second, she though it was Leucothoe, but noticed after a moment that it was her sister. She did not know the other that well, only her name. Nesaea. She nodded wearily and struggled to her feet, noticing the blood that covered the girls face. Her eyes scanned to the cut under her eye, the puncture on her neck. Slowly, gentle, she leaned forward and nosed the wound. Nothing to deep, nothing too life threatening, she noted with relief.

Pushing the sleep away, she motioned for the girl to follow. She stepped into the ocean slowly, the salt once again stinging her chest, but not as much as before. She sat, cringing every time a wave crashed into her. After a few minutes, however, the sting lessened and the waves begun to feel relaxing almost. Glancing to see if the other had followed her, an alarming thought came to Phantom.

What if Duskfire decided to retaliate? If they struck now, while the wolves of the sound were weak, it would be a hopeless cause for Ankyra. The pack balanced on the blade of a razor, and all because of a pup.

All because of a pup.

The battle with Duskfire had been one of the most pathetic and useless encounters Aella had ever been a part of. She had failed. No. The pack had failed greatly, they were unprepared for the move, and in Aella's mind, as it was only natural, the fault was all on Caiaphas. She was the leader.

Once again the hybrid had shown how unstudied she was to be in a position such as Alphaship, once again she was reminding Aella why she couldn't be trusted. And now, curled up in a corner, the leader grieved the loss of yet another one of her pups. Aella was aware of Kevlyn's presence in the battle, she had seen his lifeless body fading away in the distance as she made her escape from the claws of the Glacier, and deep inside, the amazon felt sorry. Not a usual thing.

Aella looked with disappointment at her packmates, most of them bleeding more than what was natural, and the anger grew inside her. "What are you doing." the Amazon barked accusingly at Caiaphas, who strayed away from the group. She walked closer to the witch, limping from the wounds on her paws and bleeding intensely. "You knew we didn't stand a chance against Duskfire, didn't you?" she growled, now talking lower and closer to the coyote's dark ears. "Kevlyn is dead, Caiaphas. A pup. Was that what you were expecting to get out of this? Shortening our numbers? Weakening our members? What are you doing with this pack, for the mothers' sake?" she charged, boiling in anger. It had been enough.

Perhaps had she not been out of any sorts, she might have shared her sisters sentiment. But the only thing she could think of was fix. It was a broken thought in itself. The daughter could not fix much of anything; she herself was broken, too, from the battle, from the loss. It was evident their Mothers disapproval. Perhaps even in the consort she had allowed to let go of. The daughter of the Sea tried to divine the meaning of this, while Reek spoke. Knowing she had not listened, she looked to Wynter, encouraging her to do what he had said. She was not in the right mind to do much of anything yet. Not for him, not in her anger and her turmoil. Likely she would hurt him in the process. 

Wynter regarded her. I think before we set his leg, the Sea must cleanse him first. The sisters— 

Aella came now, barking things at their leader. The daughter of the Sea stared at Aella, and moved toward the congregation with a strong strut, though took care to mind her place. She ignored the throb in her shoulder. This is not the time, the place. We are all hurting. To turn against one another would be a mistake. We must look to the Sea, now more than ever, instead of our own selves. This was no challenge; she merely sought to remind the other what was most important. They had all lost sight of that; it was time she and her sisters do what her mother had sent them here for. 

*creeps in* feel free to skip me as needed, I just wanted her to be here :D

Cal had been nervous and restless ever since the pack had gone out to meet the wolves of the Glacier.  She had been one of the few to stay behind, but she'd had no qualms at all about doing so.  Battle was not the place for her, especially not one for which she had so very many misgivings.  As they'd left the safe shores of the Sound, Callantha had wondered at who would return and what state they'd be in.  Most of all she'd worried for the two sisters she was closest to - Nesaea and Leucothoë.  Sure they had their differences, but that did not make them any less her family.  If anything, it made them more.

Callantha came across the returning party rather by chance.  From afar, she'd heard their voices and had come to the shore to check it out.  The sight of them set her heart afire, and so quick as she could, she ran to them.  Her eyes swept across the gathered warriors, seeking Nessie and Leu (as she so often called them, much to their ire).  Relief swept over her when she spotted them both, though it was short-lived for she then noticed their injuries.

Cal made to go to them, but froze instantly when she realized there was unrest in their numbers.  One of the sisters was challenging the leader while Leu stepped in to offer them reason.  Silently, she shrunk away upon the sand, and merely watched as the scene unfolded.

Wynter looked at Leucothoe waiting patiently. Although the wolf appeared to have not been listening. Suddenly Wynter had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach and knew what was coming. Leucothoe had glanced at her confirming her suspicion. She was going to have to set Reek's leg on her own. She was not confident in her ability to do so. She had never done anything like this on a wolf. Let alone a pack mate. 

She looked over to see Aella challenging the Siren who was in a heap on the ground. Leucothoe had gone to interfere. Not now. Not now. Not while there are so many injured already. She thought to herself. It would not be a good time to challenge the leader. In no way was that a fair fight either. Then her attention snapped back to the black consort.

She nudged Reek off the ground. "Go lay in the water for a minute, while i convince myself i can do this without hurting you too much." she chuffed with a hint of humour. She let him stay in the water while she regained her composure.

She repeated the directions over in her head. Ball of humorous back into rotator cuff. Lift slightly and twist until you hear a pop. Walking into the shallows ignoring the water. She nudged the stick. More like a branch. Closer to Reek. "Take that," she said motioning to the stick. "I'm sorry but this had to be done," she didn't know why she was apologizing. He knew this was going to hurt. She sighed for a moment. Taking a deep breathe.

She gently picked up Reek's leg in her jaw. She concentrated very hard. Lifting his leg slightly then beginning to twist. It wasn't long before she heard the pop as his leg set back into place. She let go of his leg wincing as he yelped. She was however, slightly proud of her accomplishment. "There." she stated. At least it was back in place now. She assessed the consort to see if he had any other injuries that he couldn't take care of. Then went back to cleaning her own wounds.

Ooc: Little bit of PP for Reek. Couldn't be helped i wanted to get in the reaction. I couldn't end it after setting his leg XD This has to be one of the longest posts I've ever typed. xD

The PP is totally fine!

Obviously, the other prospective healer was somewhere else mentally, but that was to be understood in their state.  Reek's attention turned to the agouti, who had recently returned with a large branch in tow.  At least somebody was listening.  Though the bastard held ample confidence in the priestess' abilities, Wynter, on the other hand was reletively green.  However, even though she was inexperienced the bastard completely placed his trust in her, but he couldn't help but feel a quiet apprehension for the sake of his own well being.  

With a gentle nudge, the helpful female pushed the wobbly wreck out of the shallows and on to his three shaking legs.  Reek begrudgingly complied, though, he was quite content staying in the shore break where the waves gently lapped against the laceration in his side.  The ragged consort dragged himself slowly into the deeper water until he was fully submerged.  The pain from the salt in his many cuts and scrapes from the fray caused the bastard's face to twist into an uncomfortable grimace.  Dried blood still clung to the ragged wolf's sopping pelt, scrubbing would be for another time.

The bastard made his way back to the agouti, slow and deliberate.  When she nudged the stick closer to him, the ragged consort took it in his jaws, clamping down as tight as he could.  Good.  It was sturdy.  Her speech was muffled and distant, like someone shouting from the other end of a tunnel and Reek could barely make out what sounded like an apology. "Don't," he sputtered, voice muffled by the stick. "Don't... apologize." 

She took the hanging leg in her mouth.  It was time.  The bastard took a deep breath and braced for the pain that was to come. A lift, a twist, and a loud dry pop.  The pain in Reek's shoulder made him recoil in distress, yelping loudly as he clamped down hard on the branch.  The ball of the joint going back in hurt a lot worse than it was coming out.  It was a hot pain, like a knife stabbing into the flesh and then twisting.  Luckily, it's intensity was short lived as it subsided leaving a dull soreness in it's place.  It could move. No fractures.  Wynter did damn good.

"Th-Thank you,"  he muttered, his eyes catching hers in a warm embrace.  Finally, putting little weight on his reset leg, he limped closer to the agouti to place a submissive lick on the bottom of her muzzle.   After his slight display of affection, the bastard slowly limped back to the dry sand to collapse in exhaustion.  After all this, he deserved a good rest.

the siren queen looked dully upon leucothoe first, and then reek -- her gaze straying listlessly upon wynter as the three staunched reek's egregious wounds. her own injuries remained untended -- she sat there in the sand with the cold upon her belly and her flat elbows propped to the side to keep herself upright.

a red shadow crossed her vision and for a moment she thought it was tuwawi -- yet even the raise of caiaphas' hackles seemed depressed and complacent in their rising. she could scarce muster the energy to dispell aella's wrath. the female's words cut through her sharper than tuwawi's teeth ever could -- kevlyn was dead and his passing had taken with him half of the siren queen's heart. her resolve to live was slim.

she didn't even get up as aella confronted her, though it was not because she was confident in her capabilities to defend herself. in her supine position she looked positively wretched. "you're an idiot if you think that lowly of me." she spat accusingly, her dull gaze regaining a slight flame of conviction. "we tend to our wounded. we don't inflict more wounds upon them."

with a hiss the salt witch rose, stifling her pained complaints -- "there are herbs in the grotto, he will need them - red kelp to wrap the wound." she motioned to reek with an angular muzzle as she spoke with an expression most solemn.

To her relief, the pale female stirred, rising with a nod. Nesaea followed her into the sea, watching the shallow water become streaked with red from the siren's wound on her chest. She waded out a little further, dipping her head under and pawing at her cheek in an awkward attempt to wash off the dried blood. An unsightly stain remained on her face, however, and it was clear it would take a thorough scrubbing to rid herself of it. For the moment, though, at least it had been cleansed.

The girl stayed within the waves a few moments longer, taking deep breaths and releasing them with a string of nonsensical greek words to calm herself. The rise of voices behind her caused her ears to turn first, followed by a slow swing of her head. The fiery Amazon — the only Amazon within their ranks — stalked towards Caiaphas, spitting words that rang out over the roar of the ocean. Nesaea's heart skipped a beat when she fully comprehended what Aella had said. Kevlyn. He had been the youngest consort, the one Caiaphas seemed the most fond of. Although she didn't care much for males (if at all), Nesaea couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness within her chest that they had lost one of their own to Duskfire. Especially one so young.

Leucothoe's voice then joined into the cacophony, after the Queen's venomous words and Reek's squeal of pain as his joint was twisted back into place. She returned to the group, keeping her head low as she went to stand by her sister. With a side glance, she inspected the other youth's wounds, somewhat relieved only to find one on her shoulder. Gingerly, she licked the fur surrounding it to both clean it further and to provide encouragement. Her sister was right; there was no use squabbling, it would only further complicate issues and create greater unrest. They needed to convene with the Sea and Moon, let the Mothers show them which way was right.

Turning to the Matriarch, the silver youth gave a nod and slipped past Leucothoe to make her way to the grotto and fetch some of the kelp. She wasn't sure if a reset limb was able to be walked upon so quickly, but they were all most likely too spent to move too far. With no limb or chest wounds, Nesaea silently volunteered to venture to the grotto, having no injuries that impeded movement. She spied Callantha hanging on the fringes of the gathering and, drifting towards her as she walked past, the girl touched noses with the ward to reassure her.

As the younger siren spoke against Aella's reaction, the Amazon's yellow eyes fell upon her with burning anger. Yes, Aella might have chosen the wrong time to confront the Siren Queen, the right time would have been before the tragedy, and prevent all of the trouble, probably even Kevlyn's death itself. But now all Aella could do was speak her mind and hope Caiaphas came into her senses for the pack's sake.

"And what do you think Mother Sea would show us, Leucothoe? What do you suppose the right thing to do is?" Aella hissed heated by deception. "Do you think she would tell us to raid another pack with short numbers? To attack a stronger force with little reason?" she stopped to catch her breath. "I think we all know what needs to be done." her eyes scanned every face around her. "The pack needs to grow. We're too weak to hold our claim to this place... The full moon is approaching and we have good consorts to chose from for the ritual." the siren suggested, assuming everyone knew what she was talking about. There were cult sea Nymphs to perform the ceremonies now, and the time for it would never be better. The young are the future, and Ankyra's present couldn't be worse.

Slapping a concluding post on this long dead thread so I can use it for EXP/Healer trade!

Reek's tired eyes snapped back open as the siren queen broke her silence, beckoning one of the sirens to grab herbs from the grotto, particularly for Reek and his extensive injures. Normally, Caiaphas' words would have come as a surprise to the raggedy wolf, however the fog of war had left his mind unable to process the peculiarity of willingness to aid a male before the others. Turning his head limply in the sand, Reek was able to make out the blurry figure of Nesaea making her way toward the grotto.  Although the herbs would probably prove to be unnecessary, Reek appreciated all the rare help he got in the situation.

He attempted to rise to his three working leg with an awkward wobble.  It felt as if the beach was spinning under his paws and the more he tried to grip the sand, the more it shifted.  However, somehow Reek managed to get his footing. Although he swayed back and forth like a man that had had entirely too much to drink, his footing was stable and he would be able to walk.

"She— she knows where.  F-find me," he sputtered to Caiaphas in his delirious stupor.  One leg found it's way in front of the other as he began to shamble his way toward the male's quarters and away from the sad scene on the beach.  "D-don't wanna... argue.  —Sleep."  Although Reek knew sleeping with after losing so much blood wasn't the best idea, his body screamed for rest.  Giving in to his body's demands, he tripped and stumbled up the cliffside and into the male's den and collapsed on the cold clay floor, shutting his eyes to the rest of the world.  The sounds of Aella and Caiaphas arguing lulled him to sleep, like an angry lullaby.