Hollowheart Keep Homecoming

-tempts the SoW to drop something else/more for the princess and the ward-

"Sir Mapplethorpe, Evann and I have located Aponi and Mercy and brought them home. Ma'am Sagacity is with them now and your presence is requested by the southern border."

Karpos' voice pulled him the depths of what had been the middle of his late afternoon nap. His ears came up and as he sleepily watched the lad disappear, the Leader pushed himself onto his four weary paws and using the yearling's scent as a guide, navigated his way to the place where the most startling of meetings had unfolded. He was pleased however to realize that Naira had arrived before him. Perhaps she had already taken care of the situation, but even as she stepped away to retrieve something nearby, the grizzled Leader drew near anyway.

What he saw before him made his throat tighten and his heart and chest swell. There, on either side of the Silver Dagger laid his long lost daughter and the crow-child who had been missing since the last time the pack had had a hunt. He couldn't remember where or when he had seen Aponi and Mercy last but to see them laying there in the thawing frost, on the ground that was still much too cold, Mapplethorpe was sure that it had been some time since he had last laid eyes on them. He managed a small smile, offering a small woof to Evann and Sagacity in gratitude and utmost appreciation for taking appropriate action. Karpos, and even Mercy, he would get to later, he supposed, but for now, he settled back down, taking up a place on Aponi's other side so that she would be kept thoroughly warm. Never mind that he wasn't as burly or as thickset as the others, his proximity and body heat, ought to have been enough, the thought of him being there for the daughter that he had come to raise as his own, speaking on behalf of the gentler man he became when no one else was watching.

His head lifted quickly, ears perked atop his skull to allow his keen hearing to take in the sound of dying prey. Like so many, he mistook Mercy's plea for help as that of prey suffering at the hands of its attacker, it wasn't until a follow-up howl, this one undeniably that of Saga's, did the male feel sensation leave his body. She needed his immediate attention, he could sense the emergency from her call and yet he could not guarantee her a quick appearance. He had wandered past the border of Hollowheart Keep, to it's neighboring territory in further search of plants to add to his stockpile; he'd expected to back before the approach of nightfall.

Obeying her call, and feeling his muscles move to propel his slender frame toward home, he hoped beyond hope that there was not a serious medical need as his herbs were nearly non-existent and probably would not be up to an appropriate level until closer to summer. Cursing his luck, and the apparent lack of resources he carried during this expedition, he came into the clearing with wide eyes and cautious body language as he took in the sight before him--injured pups, frantic adults, and tension one could cut with a knife. Shit, he'd walked into a catastrophe.

His eyes sought the form of Sagacity, the woman who had called for him, and moved finally toward the pup she was sheltering. From this distance he could not tell whether the injured wolf was male or female, or that this unfortunate being was her son, but he knew that these pups needed help. Fast. From a quick assessment he could tell that dehydration and starvation had captivated their slender frames and he was swift to run back toward where he'd come in search of well...anything. They needed nourishment, meat would be their quickest source of fuel and yet none laid nearby, instead the healer began to search for berries, they were tiny but packed nutrients, moisture and a peculiar sweetness that would surely hold them over until they could raid the caches.

He found but a few, but that was all he needed, and snatched loose a branch full of nearly ripe berries to bring back to the teenagers. If nature would allow it he would have brought back with him water though the berries packed within them juices that should help to recharge their starving bodies--at least he hoped. His awkwardness seemed to disappear once he returned to the scene and settled to the other side of Mercy with the branch of berries clutched tightly in his jaws, only once he felt the adolescent jerk from his body heat did he let the prize drop to his feet. "Give them some berries if they can take them, it will help to rehydrate them. his voice seemed foreign to him, more mature and urgent, and yet he ignored this in spite of the situation. He looked to Sagacity, and then his leader, Mapplethorpe, who had taken the other side of Aponi before he craned his head over the silver youth's head to generate more heat, sure that eventually they would be alright.

He was their healer, and he had every intention to do just that. Heal.

-Tidies this up since they're gone again XD-

Barely aware of what was going on around him, Mercy did his best to remain conscious and respond now and again to prompts. He ate something that someone gave him- he wasn't sure what it was or who it was from, but when it was presented to him he ate it. His body begged him to, and he knew that his packmates wouldn't make him eat if they weren't also attending to Aponi. He was starved and weak and knew he would need more strength in order to return to the communal den where he could rest and regain his strength. Now that he had fulfilled his duty by returning Aponi, he felt slightly more willing to take care of himself rather than sacrificing everything he had for the girl he'd sworn to protect.

The wolves around them bustled, came and went. He found himself eating something he didn't particularly like- something a medic had brought, and he didn't even register that they were berries or that he didn't know the wolf who'd brought them. He found the tangy taste of them to be cringe-worthy, and he gagged a bit while swallowing them down, but the sour taste woke him up a bit and made him a bit more conscious. Once he was ready and once Aponi was strong enough to be escorted, the two returned pups were brought back to the warmth and safety of the pack den, a place it seemed they had been searching for for their entire lives- and would spend the next several hours in a sort of mock hibernation as their strength and energy was finally restored.