Dead Empress Backwater A-A Snapping turtle?!

RE Sage, a turtle tries to snap at your toes!

some fairy tales are more than true

Sage was bathing in the cool water, her blonde fur floating around her. The yearling's eyes were lazily half open as she stood there merely enjoying herself. The wind caused ripples to form and ruffle her pelt. It was the heat of the day and she saw no better way to cool off before finding some flowers to study. She was planning to take another trip out to Cedarwoods. No one had said anything to her about the short day trips she'd been taking here and there for lavender hyssop and she wanted to see if she could find anything else. In the meantime, she simply waded in the water.

Something dark caught her eye, and the yearling plunged her head underneath to look. She'd never seen a turtle before and simply stared at the approaching creature. It sure was funny looking. Unbothered by the new animal she came up for a breath of air and went back to her relaxing. A few peaceful moments went by, Sage almost drifting into sleep when a horrific pain shot through her paw. The yearling let out a blood-curdling screech and stumbled backward. Blood and dirt clouded the water and she couldn't see what had happened. The Hervok wasted no time stumbling up to the beach, and hot on her heels was the strange creature! "Shoo! Go away!" She cried out, tears forming from the intense pain. She looked down for a moment and felt faint- where...where was her toe?! Was it gone?! "She speaks" She walks She thinks

(This post was last modified: Jul 20, 2023, 03:49 AM by Sage.)

Eros had been near enough to hear his friend's screech, the sound enough on its own to let loose adrenaline through his system. He was there in a flash, teeth bared and ready to take on whatever had upset her. The scent of blood hit him and he followed her widened gaze to see the assaulter - a friggin' turtle. Man he hated turtles!

It was a good sized snapper, but by now the Valle had experience tussling with the creatures. It definitely had made a mistake in attacking Sage. He charged it, able to use its determination to strike the younger wolf again against it. His nose caught the side lip of it's shell and it's heft flipped over onto its ridged back. It tried to right itself while Eros danced around it, striking out to spin it or otherwise keep it on its back while also dodging its attempts to bite him in retaliation.

If he'd known Sage was missing a full digit, he would have been a bit more focused on her and less on killing the aquatic reptile. Right now though, he wanted to make sure this thing wasn't ever going to harm another one of them again. Once it was wedged and mired by the roots of a nearby tree, still belly up, Eros went to his friend.

"Where'd it get ya?"

some fairy tales are more than true

Sage jumped out of the way of her friend as he came forth with a furry to handle the beast. She watched on in horror as Eros flipped it over and the animal bit at him repeatedly. She winced, worried the snapper would make contact with the delicate flesh of her companion. Soon enough he had it stuck upside down in the roots and she could gawk back down at her paw.

His question was met with silence as emerald eyes fell from his gaze down to her injury. She lifted her leg, allowing her paw to hang limply while blood dribbled down from where her toe was supposed to be. She looked back at him speechless. Utterly shocked and mortified about missing a small piece of her body. Not to mention the staggering pain.

"She speaks" She walks She thinks

Dead Empress Backwater

Oh. She lifted the affronted paw and he could see the missing space clearly now, along with the blood steadily flowing from where the digit had once been connected. A mild grimace passed over his face before he could control it, not yet experienced in bedside manner. Still, even if he was a long ways off from being considered an expert, he at least knew it was better to act than to sit around second-guessing and doubting.

"Okay. You're alright Sage, we got this okay?" he tried to gauge just how shocked she was, hoped she'd be able to get herself to where they needed to go. If not, though? They'd figure it out.

He tilted back his head, sending out a call to @Clover to ask her to meet them at her den. Eros would try to handle this on his own as much as possible, but he wouldn't compromise his friend's level of care to do so. If his Ma was there, she could make sure he was making the right choices, and step in if something he didn't expect happened.

"We gotta get to the infirmary, okay? Do you wanna lean on me, try to let that clot, or do you just wanna power through and get there fast?"

Could one bleed out through just a toe? Not a question he'd thought to ask in his lessons.

(This post was last modified: Jan 07, 2024, 08:30 AM by Eros.)

some fairy tales are more than true

Sage watched his facial expression with saucer eyes. Did he know how to handle a missing toe?! This was bizarre! Her toe...her freaking toe! The yearling stood there breathing rapidly while Eros seemed to be piecing together what to do in his mind. If it were possible, her eyes grew in size, "Alright? Eros...I...I am missing a toe." Her voice was shakey, "I am missing a toe. I am not alright." She shook her head back and forth in a slow unsettling manner. She was not angry at him, and her tone reflected merely the pure panic she felt.

Clover? How would Clover take this? The girl felt her stomach churning. This is humiliating. I look like a fool. I lost my freaking toe!!! She kept standing there stock still with her lips curved at an odd angle. The expression on her face unbefitting of her features and quite strange indeed. "I want to get there fast." She blurted the answer out without much thought on the matter. She was loosing blood. Her toe was gone. This was embarrassing enough not to mention, the pain. Searing hot pain that burned violently throughout her paw and forelimb.

"She speaks" She walks She thinks

Dead Empress Backwater

I'm not alright, she countered, and he wished a little more that his Mom had been the one to handle this. Clover definitely would have been a far more reassuring presence to Sage in this moment. Fast. He could do that, and hopefully the real pack medic would be there and ready for them when they arrived.

Eros nodded and took off at a swift trot. Whatever pace she ended up managing he would match, watchful of how she was managing. He knew the first thing he would need to grab to stopper the bleeding. Then he could focus on pain management, before disinfecting the wound. They definitely did not want to live through a second wave of salmonella - the stories were pretty awful. Maybe his friend would need to be quarantined for a bit...

some fairy tales are more than true

Sage followed after Eros as fast as she could. Searing hot pain shot up her leg with every step, causing it to buckle slightly each time her paw touched the ground. Her limp only grew worse as they ran through the trees and eventually, she was slowing down to awkwardly hop-run. She was grateful that he adjusted to her pace, grateful for a friend who wouldn't leave her behind. Eros had saved her more than once now, whether he knew it or not, but Seri also deserved credit.

Sage soldier on through the pain with a prominent grimace set on her face.

"She speaks" She walks She thinks

Dead Empress Backwater

Eros felt bad that she had to walk on it at all, and knew that he would have a plethora of questions for @Clover once Sage was fully taken care of and they eventually had the chance to debrief privately. He couldn't help a nagging feeling that there had been better ways to handle this, and that he was causing his friend unnecessary discomfort. Again, though, he knew letting indecision slow or stop him altogether would be worse.

When they arrived, his mother wasn't yet present. He lifted his head and sent out another call, not urgent, but checking in- perhaps she hadn't heard him the first time, perhaps she'd been far. Either way, now she would know they had arrived. He would motion to where Sage could rest within the infirmary, a comfy divot padded with dried fauna, including sprigs of lavender to help calm patients.

"We're going to have to apply pressure," he informed her, a sympathetic lilt to his wolfish brows. It would hurt, but he hoped she would be able to do so herself while he created the salve that would help in the efforts to clot up the bleeding.

SAGE HERVOK

She limped into the infirmary, cradling her paw, and curled up on the spot Eros had motioned to. Sage quickly grabbed some lavender and started chewing on the familiar herb. She was happy to munch away until he spoke again. Her head shot up as green eyes looked at him. Wide enough the whites are shown. Her lips pulled back in a taunt grimace, her paw instinctively tucked beneath her. "We're what? She'd heard him just fine...but the idea of increasing the pain she was already experiencing was a horrifying thought.

The wolf searched his eyes for the confirmation she dreaded.

Dead Empress Backwater

Sage clearly wasn't happy with the instruction, and Eros certainly couldn't blame her. However, there was only so much blood she could afford to lose, and this wasn't any regular kind of bite.

"Yeah, this isn't going to be fun..." he spoke sympathetically, but also took a step closer. If she wasn't able or willing, he would need to do it for her, and they would need to wait it out until Clover arrived. Or, he supposed he could try to do both things at once...

Either way, it was about to be a very long half-hour for everyone involved.

/Fade