Sanguine Cove Feel the uncertainty in your bones

Takes place on 6/7 immediately following this thread. For @Eros only and maybe @Aquene after they reach the medical den.

Nash turned and led the way, inviting Eros into their territory. Despite tensions on the Backwater's side, Nash held no ill will toward them aside from annoyance at their stubborn insistence on being angry with them... but then, they had lost a child here. Would Nash have been any different? He'd thought so, but that was before losing Sari, and he didn't think he'd ever trust the sky again... and with Magg. He was wary of strangers in a way he never had been before. The Cove had always been welcoming to travelers, and now Nash didn't trust a single one of them.

But he didn't think Eros would have hurt Magg, or Leo, or any of them. They'd let Ally go with him, and Aquene would never have allowed her granddaughter go without a fight if she thought the girl would have been unsafe.

Nash idly wondered if his wife would ever see her again.

As they moved further into the territory Nash glanced at Eros. "You're a medic, right?" he asked hesitantly. Eros was young, yes, but he was a leader and held responsibility now. Maybe... maybe he could help in other ways too.

YOU DON'T WANNA HURT ME, BUT SEE HOW DEEP THE BULLET LIES

Grieving. Had Archer really meant that much to her, or had the Cove already experienced another death? No wonder they were finally leaving the mountain. Hearing it said had struck an odd chord with him. There was so much good in that, but, where would they end up then? His whole life, they had been right there. @Leo had been right there, even if he'd never truly taken advantage of that proximity. Not like he should have, even after... You're a medic, right? Eros blinked, having been staring fixedly ahead as his paws ate up the ground. His pace yearned to be much more quicker than Nash's tired gait, but he couldn't leave the man behind. Sometimes he'd get so far ahead he'd have to stop entirely and wait on jittering legs for the leader to catch up. This time, they'd been rather close. He looked at him, wondering if this was about any reservations he might have in allowing him to provide care. "Yeah, specifically trained by my Ma since I was about half a year old and practicing in full for nearly a year now."

UNAWARE, I'M TEARING YOU ASUNDER, THUNDER IN OUR HEARTS

Nash was trying to move quickly, he really was, but after the punishing pace he'd kept up the last week and a half, even up the steep mountainside, he couldn't seem to make his paws keep working beyond a drag. He was so tired. But Leo needed him, and if staying up a little bit longer was what he could do, then... well, he would do it. It was Leo. There was very little, if anything, that he would not do for the boy.

Eros politely waited for him when he lagged behind, something Nash appreciated. He was supposed to be the one showing the way, after all. Not like Nash was doing very well at what he 'should' be doing.

The other leader explained his training and Nash smiled tiredly at him. "How do I help her?" he asked quietly, not wanting any of his own pack members to overhear should they happen to be up and about, or investigating the call. "We lost our daughter when they first left the den, and then our grandchildren were stillborn... she's just empty and I don't know..." it hurt to admit that he was completely and utterly useless, especially to another leader who had taken charge so young, and who was clearly doing so much better a job than Nash could ever hope to.

YOU DON'T WANNA HURT ME, BUT SEE HOW DEEP THE BULLET LIES

Nash's response befuddled him, and it showed, though without any of the expressive vibrancy Eros had once been known for. Her? Since when were they talking about a- oh. The edges of his features cringed with something akin to empathy, even if he was likely never to be a father. There were deaths that could hit just as hard, as he'd very freshly learned. He kept looking ahead now, not sure what he really had to give to Nash. His lessons had focused primarily on physical care, at Eros' own insistence. He was going to be out in the wilds, fighting all manners of wildlife off and saving lives from real threats, after all! What did he need to know about emotions and sitting around talking? It had all seemed so dry cut and simple. He'd really, genuinely thought he'd had all the answers as a kid. But, Clover would know. Not only that, she was going through losses of her own. Eros knew exactly what his best offer could be, but was it really an option? He could just picture the look on his father's face... In a better world, though, the two women could have begun visiting with each other. Leaned on each other, supported one another, and maybe that could have helped. What else was there, when the cause of your pain was death? His mouth had gone dry. "Um," he tried to swallow, then finally glanced Nash's way again, "I don't... I really don't know that I have that answer." His voice was soft, raw, honest. Eros had only just fallen into his own well of ink-black grief. He couldn't even see the light for himself.

UNAWARE, I'M TEARING YOU ASUNDER, THUNDER IN OUR HEARTS

They walked, and it took a moment for Eros to respond. Nash hoped it was because he was thinking of a list of things for him to try, a nice easy step-by-step on how to fix your wife. Maybe some miracle cure that would bring the life back into her eyes. Nash missed the spark of mischief. He missed her nagging him to slow down and take care of himself. She never would have let him get back up to answer the call before, not when his limbs trembled with exhaustion and it took him twice as long to think through something and process what someone was saying to him. @Aquene would have laid on him herself to keep him down.

It was to his great disappointment that Eros didn't have such answers. He had no answers, and perhaps it was unfair of Nash to even ask, especially knowing how the man felt about them. Nash hunched in on himself. "Okay," he said, for lack of anything better. He would keep trying the only way he knew how: being there for her, being with her. But he had to be there for his pack now too, and with so much going on...

Nash glanced at Eros. "I'm... I'm sorry to hear about Archer," he said quietly. "He was a good man. He was here more than once looking for Ally, we kept expecting... Does she know?" he kept his voice quiet, as though saying it softly would lessen the blow that losing a loved one was.

TW for suicidal ideation again, sorry. /:

YOU DON'T WANNA HURT ME, BUT SEE HOW DEEP THE BULLET LIES

The impact his response had on the older wolf was hard to witness. Eros had to look away, his eyes burning and his heart aching. Here he was, throwing his all into helping save someone else's life while questioning his willingness to continue with his own. All of this death and grief were too much, too constant. Could he really be that strong, to do this for years and years more? Did he really want to be? 'I'm... I'm sorry to hear about Archer.' Eros flinched, a subtle but visible twitch along the line of his shoulders. It was his turn to duck his head, which was still not quite facing his company, leaving his features in shadow. What was the opposite of 'from strength to strength'? "Yes," he answered, voice small and broken. She knew. They all had, deep in their gut, even before he'd gotten his cursed proof. "... I'm sorry, too. For what you've lost." It was awful, truly. Even if they were responsible for Sephrina, Eros wouldn't have wanted the same to happen to someone else in turn, much less repeatedly. But they were reaching the den now, and he realized he would have gone to the wrong place. He'd even assumed she'd had a litter this year (what couple didn't seem compelled to consistently churn out batch after batch of namesakes?), yet it hadn't clicked that she would be at a whelping den instead of the infirmary that he was familiar with. It hit him too, that he was lacking some vital information. A sickly shock shot up his spine and caused him to freeze completely, peach eyes going wide with a deep, remorseful dread as he finally looked at Nash again. "We don't know how he's hurt. I didn't ask what his injuries even are." The horror of his own misstep was plain to see, as though this would cause everything else to grind to a halt as well. Having to retrack, having to waste even a small amount of time more, having simply not thought were things that got wolves killed. Eros reigned himself in quickly. He pinched his eyes shut and took in a sharp inhale. Were he human, he would have held the bridge of his nose as well. When he let the breath out again, he was back in motion, past the speed bump. "We'll prepare for anything. Everything."

UNAWARE, I'M TEARING YOU ASUNDER, THUNDER IN OUR HEARTS

Aquene did as she had set into habit… lingering in the den, keeping a close eye on Sam as her mind constantly raced, horrible images of anything that might happen to her appearing in her mind whilst simultaneously finding a certain apathy for anything and everything that crossed her path. Perhaps that made her horrible… she did not know, but it was the life she was dealing with now. She eagerly awaited the day they could leave this mountain and all the pain and suffering it had brought. It was funny to think she had once thought it a paradise.

“We don't know how he's hurt. I didn't ask what his injuries even are."

It was Eros’s voice… and it was enough to make her head snap back with an alertness hardly seen anymore as she poked her head from the den. “Who is hurt?” She asked, a concern and panic bubbling in her chest. Not again. They could not lose another one… not after all they had already suffered. She didn’t even know who it was, but she had to assume that it was someone from the Backwater if Eros was there… perhaps it had been the mountain, and Sanguine Cove had simply been the closest place. She was certain the man would have preferred Clover’s help to hers.

“Where?”

Aquene Slayer