Placing some much needed distance between him and his brother had been a struggle. With no idea where he was headed, Deaglán had continued into the unknown by limping his way along the edge of the brook in a western direction. His journey had taken him most of the night, his unsteady gait hampered by the endless maze of pine trees which he had been forced to weave his way around. Crimson beads of blood had collected at the tips of his fur, where his injuries bled into his dark coat, and left a trail of droplets upon the moss and leaf litter behind him.

Lost and injured in the forest on his own, he had felt vulnerable. However upon nestling himself amongst some large boulders of a partially caved in bear den – which he had quite literally stumbled into – he had begun to feel more at ease. After convincing himself that he was relatively safe inside the rocky ruins, he had made an attempt at cleaning his wounds. Tenderly he had licked at the bloodied matted fur which encased his fresh wounds. However, it had not been long before his lids had grown heavy from exhaustion and his dark lashes fluttered shut as sleep consumed him.

Golden eyes blinked open early the next morning, just as the first few rays of sunlight filtered down through the open crags of the rocks which made up his temporary den. A groan of discomfort echoed through the dark as he attempted to move, sending waves of pain through both the right side of his body. He took a moment to mentally prepare himself before he tried to shuffle himself out of the den again.

Teeth gritted together in pain, Deaglán awkwardly clambered his way out from the bear den. Finally rising up to stand at his full height he found that the area around his left shoulder had seized up and become swollen during the night. Meanwhile his rear right leg was too painful to bare weight, leaving him balancing uncomfortably on three limbs. The metallic stench of blood also clung to him, despite his feeble attempt to clean himself up after the fight with his brother.

Releasing a despondent sigh, he forcing himself to focus on something other than the aches and pains he currently felt. Golden eyes drifted over to the small stream which trickled further down the sloping terrain of the moss covered forest. He was in need of a fresh drink. Sweeping his tongue eagerly across his charcoal lips, he began to pick his way downwards towards the water, trying hard not to stumble over as he went. His mouth began to water in anticipation as he grew closer to the stream before a rustling to the right of him caught him off guard.

Turning to glance over towards the noise, his ears perked up with surprise as he spotted a small group of forest bison grazing in a forest clearing. Limping to a halt, he observed them from a short distance away and hoped that they had failed to notice him. It seemed he was out of luck. Golden eyes widened in horror as a particularly large bull bison swerved off its path to face him and began approaching. Lifting his tail and bristling his fur Deaglán attempted to warn the large herbivore away, doing his best to appear intimidating despite his poor condition. The bull was having none of it and stomped angrily at the dirt moments before charging him.

“Fuck.” It was the only sound to leave his mouth as he began to stumble backwards, his head turning from side to side as he searched for any means of escape.

In panic Deaglán glanced around, bright golden eyes hurriedly scanning his immediate environment for anything of use. To his horror he was unable to see past the vibrant shade of green, caused by the moss which seemed to engulf everything around him. He could hear the heavy hooves of the bison as it drew closer and the harsh panting of its breath as it gained speed moving towards him. He felt his heart suddenly sink within his chest as his vision clouded over. This was it. He was going to die.

He felt a sudden force collide into his left side. In an instant he found himself swept off his paws and tumbling down the moss laden slope towards the stream below. Though his eyes were narrowed in pain from the repeated collisions of his body with the ground, he was able to make out flashes of white within the blur of vibrant green. When he finally slumped to a stop, Deaglán groaned in pain. He had barely even begun to recover from his last ordeal and now his body was wracked with a fresh set of aches and pains.

After taking a moment to stop his head from spinning, Deaglán groggily glanced around. Almost instantly he noticed the pale girl lingering by his side. A frown – more out of confusion than anything else – formed on his dark features as he wondered where the hell she had come from. However before he had a chance to say anything, she had already got back on her feet and had begun barking orders at him to move. Not foolish enough to argue with her demands in that moment, he rocked himself awkwardly onto his left side and then rose unsteadily to stand, his right hind leg tensed inches above the ground.

The nudge given to his tender side was met with a flash of fangs, though he did as she said and limped his way as hurriedly as could towards the moss covered tree hollow. A small whine whistled past his lips as he moved, causing his ears to flatten back out of embarrassment. Upon reaching the tree, Deaglán stretched down into a bow and squeezed into the open gap, awkwardly falling over in the process. Through a combination of shuffling and dragging his battle worn body against the dirt, he finally managed to wriggle his way to safety.

With his injured rear leg laying awkwardly near the entrance to the hollow, the dark male desperately tried to drag it in closer. The pain which shot up through his bloodied limb was unbearable however and so, after almost yelping out in pain, he gave up. The bridge of his muzzle wrinkled anxiously as he waited for the pale girl to squash herself up into the tight space behind him, silently pleading that he would not be trampled on in the process.

Crammed there awkwardly in the dark, concealed beneath an overturned tree hollow, he waited with baited breath for the pale furred girl to squash in behind him – or for the angry bull bison to discover his hiding place and trample him where he lay. Neither options sounded very appealing to him but there wasn’t really much he could do either way. He was pretty much useless in his current condition.

Dark ears swivelled back to listen behind him as he heard the voice of the girl echo into the moss covered hollow. Her insults brought an amused smirk to his face as he listened to her, attempting to catch the attention of the large herbivore and lead it away. He waited silently, or as quietly as he could whilst he attempted to catch his breath, as he listened to the sound of the girl running further away and the bison charging after her. He breathed a sigh of relief when the world outside the hollow seemed to fall silent, pleased to have escaped gruesome death.

With the girl seemingly out of the area, Deaglán attempted to get himself out of there. Inhaling sharply, he braced his three functional paws against the dirt. The end of the hollow nearest his nose was blocked off by a tangle of soil and roots, therefore his only option was to wriggle himself backwards out of the tree. Slowly he pushed he forepaws against the ground and moved body from side to side like a serpent in an attempt to shuffle out. The task was painful on his wounded shoulder but he could just about manage it if he concentrated hard enough – unfortunately however, the feeling of dirt and rough bark scraping against his injured right thigh was unbearable.

He let out a whine and his body flinched within the cramped area of the tree hollow, causing him to knock his head. “Uhhh, damn it!” He cursed as he flopped back down onto his stomach in defeat. He had planned on waiting a few moments before trying again but then a familiar voice echoed back into the dark hollow. “No.” He replied sharply, his voice low and laced in sarcasm. Don’t be stupid. He thought, about to roll his eyes before he remembered: He was stuck in there.

“…Just a bit stuck.” He admitted awkwardly, his tone conveying his suddenly realised vulnerability. “Think you could get this damn tree off of me?” He asked with a hopeful sway of his tail behind him. He didn’t like asking others for help, especially wolves that he had not yet gotten to know. However in this instance it seemed that he was running low on options, and the thought of having to spend the next few hours trying to painfully wriggle his way out from under the hollow tree did not seem appealing in the slightest.

As Deaglán lay there, completely helpless, stuffed tight underneath half of a hollowed out tree, he could just imagine the girl secretly laughing at him. He must have looked so stupid, his tail, arse and rear right leg poking out from the sunlit entrance at one end, whilst the front end of him remained facing towards the darkness at the other.

When the girl announced that she had an idea of how to get him out, Deaglán's ears perked up to listen. An explanation never came however, and instead all he heard were the faint patter of her paws as she bolted away. Had she just left him there? Was that her idea, to leave an injured wolf there to suffer on his own? If she was playing some kind of joke on him, Deaglán wasn’t amused. He wasn’t having a great time of it lately and his patience was rapidly wearing thin.

After what seemed like hours the sound of more heavy, laboured footfall echoed into the tree hollow. Immediately Deaglán inhaled deeply to confirm that whoever it was rustling around outside was the same girl that had assisted him before. His dark brows raised curiously and then furrowed in concern as a series of strange noises sounded behind him as she wedged the large branch and stone together against the tree hollow.

“What are you even doing back there?” He asked, trying his best not to sound as annoyed or impatient as he actually felt in that moment. His question was left unanswered as she proceeded to instruct him on what to do next. With a weary sigh, he had been about to offer up a response when suddenly the open end of the hollow jolted up with a creek. Sunlight spilled in from both sides as the girl lifted the tree up by half a foot or so.

Without much hesitation, Deaglán once again braced himself against the ground using his three functional limbs and began to slowly shuffle backwards. Unsurprisingly his injured rear limb scraped against the dirt like it had before, summoning a broken whine from the male. For a moment he considered stopping again and asking the girl to find some other way to help him out of his predicament. Moving backwards was excruciating, whilst moving forwards had been less of a problem. He considered though, the girl would surely only hand out so much charity before she grew bored and moved on. He had to get out, no matter how much it hurt.

Clenching his teeth down firmly, a hiss left his grimacing charcoal lips as he dug his claws into the dirt and pushed himself out with all the force he could manage. His injured leg caught underneath him and dragged along the ground as his body coiled up outside, finally managing to exit the tree hollow on his rear before tumbling back onto his back, with a yelp, as his head grazed the top of the hollowed out tree.

Free from his prison he lay exhausted, belly up, in the same position he had fallen into. Sprawled awkwardly upon the moss covered ground, he gazed down to inspect the throbbing, freshly opened wounds which now bled from his chest and rear right limb. Frowning in discomfort, he then glanced back across to the girl. “Thanks.” He said coolly, before releasing a small sigh as he slowly rolled over onto his front.

He raised his dark brows towards the girl as she explained that she had not acted in hopes of receiving his gratitude. She had helped him because she had believed it to be the right thing to do, which Deaglán most certainly grateful for. His expression faltered, a frown working its way back onto his features, as she dismissed the idea of leaving him there to die. Given that he had recently assisted in the murder of his stepfather, he figured he deserved to be punished somehow. “Heh, yeah..” He murmured, attempting to force a laugh as he gave a small tilt of his head in agreement.

With him being free from the tree hollow and alive and all, he had expected the girl to leave. After all, she really had no reason to stick around. She had helped him out, he had said thanks. That was the end of their short arrangement. Rolling onto his front, he tilted his chin down and attempted to reach the oozing wound located lower down his neck. Tentatively his salmon pink tongue poked out from between his charcoal lips to lick delicately at the bloodied matted fur which encased the injury.

Deaglán looked up in surprise as the girl spoke again, having almost forgotten then she was even still there. The frown he had been wearing deepened, as he glanced awkwardly back down towards his bleeding neck and mangled leg. “Something like that.” He agreed through partially gritted teeth, not wishing to divulge the true reason behind his numerous injuries. His pale gold eyes returned to meet the seafoam green of her gaze as she spoke of some herbs that could be used to treat them. “Really?” He questioned, slightly astonished.

Deaglán had never paid much attention to plants. They were just something that prey animals ate and everyone else trampled over. He had never even imagined that they could actually be of some use to him. The girl’s offer to find some of the healing herbs for him was not one that he was willing to turn down. She had done a good job in helping him out so far, though he was beginning to wonder if there was some other reason for her continuing to stick around. Still, at this point, he would take whatever he could get. “Sure, if you’re not sick of helping me out already.” He grinned, though he was entirely serious in what he said. If she wanted to leave, he had no way of stopping her.