Secret Woodlands if the heavens ever did speak [m?]

AW for the SW pack <3 Special tag for @Enia
TW - self-harm

His head hurt - and not in the way it usually hurt, either. It felt as though his skull was splitting apart from the inside out, hurting from his nose all the way into the back of his neck. Pax had been pretty much the model pack wolf for the past couple of months, and if he were totally honest about it, it was probably because of that conversation he'd had with Enia. There was something about that girl that made him want to keep his word about sticking with the Woodlands. It was odd that he hadn't even killed one of them yet.

Which was likely where the headache stemmed from. The voices were roaring - demanding, shrieking. Filling every moment with endless wails and curses and sending Paschal's head into chaos and pain. The young wolf had done well to ignore it and power through until then, but it was getting to be far too much. He wasn't sure if they had any healers in the pack, but if they did, perhaps they would be able to give him something to ease the pain.

The vessel wasn't even aware that he was walking until a sharp pain shot through his right forepaw. He sluggishly lifted the limb until he could see the pad, and it - unsurprisingly - had a large thorn deeply embedded through the skin. A tantalizing drop of red oozed out, causing Pax's mouth to water and briefly made him forget about the shooting pains through his brain. Leaning forward, he grabbed the thorn between his teeth and wriggled it around. The pain was bad, but more blood oozed when he pulled it out, and he couldn't help but stare at the thorn bush he'd been walking past.

Without giving himself more time to think, he shoved his forepaw deep into the bush, hissing in an intake of breath but completely transfixed by the crimson rolling down his white fur where the thorns entered. Oh, the symbols that Asheroth would have him write with that blood. His tail started to wag just a bit behind him, his tongue sticking out from his mouth and saliva dripping from his open jaw. The headache wasn't fading, but at least now he had something else to focus on.

Things were at least slightly back to normal in Secret Woodlands. Enia felt as if she were seeing less and less of her parents are the days wore on and the yearling wondered what it meant for her family. Would they be able to prevail come winter? Paschal had made good on his promise to remain within the Woodland pack. The Athesila girl hardly ever finding his scent straying too far from the border. He was an interesting fellow, that one. The dark girl felt an uncertain pull that she couldn't completely comprehend - didn't fully have the courage to ask her mother about. Perhaps it was mere curiosity about someone who was so different, or maybe it was something else. Either way, the dark girl felt a strange pull to the man, despite his odd qualities, though they did give him character.

Enia settled about her daily routine, just headed back into the sense of the thickets after a border control. She did not have much else planned for the day but stopped in her tracks when the scent of blood blew past her. A deep frown of worry settled on the petite girl's lips, which only deepened when Paschal's scent was accompanied by it. Without much other thought about what the rest of her day could bring, the young Athesila set off in the direction that her friend's scent had come from. When she set her light brown gaze upon him, they instantly lit up with worry. It did not even occur to her that he might be inflicting the pain upon himself - though it did cross her mind that he might have gotten stuck. Which would have been ironic, had it been true, considering their first conversation.

The dark yearling rushed forward, being careful not to initiate contact with the older male as she took in the scene. Jaws parted to speak, "Pax, what happened? You need to be more careful!" She might have been the picture of innocence and still it did not cross her mind that something else could have been going on. All Enia knew was that an uncomfortable feeling was settling in the pit of her stomach and all she wanted to do was help.

I'm sorry it's so short I have a bunch of posts to do and a limited timeframe to do them in - I'll make sure the next one is longer

He was so wrapped up in his sick little ritual that he almost didn't notice Enia approaching him. He jumped harshly when she spoke, spinning around and twisting his head back to look at her. She was so pure and so innocent, and he felt that unusual (yet completely and utterly natural) fluttering in his chest that he got whenever he saw the tiny girl. He was beginning to love and hate that feeling.

"I'm fine," he said levelly, even though he very clearly was not at all fine whatsoever, with his foreleg caught in the thornbush. But he felt the oddest need to look tough in front of her - like he couldn't let her know that this actually did hurt. And even though he hadn't felt the pain at the time, now that the adrenaline and voices had ebbed away, it was starting to show itself again. "I just... I guess I..." he trailed off, tail lowering as he tried to think of an explanation. "I guess I zoned out. I do that a lot."