Riddle Heights Can It Be?

The lanky male traveled over the tougher terrain of the heights, remembering a time when his roots were in such a land. The McKenzie Mountains had been a magnificent place to call home and the foothills where their pack had been located were much like this region. The strange thick mist was different, but not enough to ward off a pang of homesickness for the land of his birth. But the heartache that he had left it behind for ensured that the mature male would never return. The memories themselves were too much without the everyday reminder of where he had played as a pup and lived and loved as an alpha. That time was done.

The nostalgia gripped him hard and he hung his pale head in sadness. Nearly overcome with the grief that the memories brought him the old wolf decided to head back the way that he had come and leave these reminders of a more joyful time behind him. He had just taken a few steps back towards where he had met Chantille and Ash, whom he assumed lived in these rugged foothills when the sound of thundering hooves was quickly followed by a sharp yelp of pain and then by a voice yelling, "KODA!" The panic in the voice was enough to capture his attention, but the name that it uttered froze him in time. Koda. There was no way that it could be his young friend. Everyone had died in the fire. Everyone, but him. The name was uncommon... but, that didn't mean it didn't belong to some other random wolf...

The frantic call finally got through his fugue and Cisco was galvanized into motion. Whoever it was needed help. He didn't know what he could do, but he would certainly do his best. He shook his head to clear it of the random flashes of a pale wolf pup playing at the feet of his best friend, Brennor. The boy had been the spitting image of his sire, even then. Between the intermittent banks of thick mist and his wayward thoughts, he nearly plowed into a dark male wolf as he peered anxiously over the edge of a cliff. Cisco skidded to a stop and jumped to the right to avoid him. In the process, his front paws slipped out from under him and his right claws actually lost their purchase on the rocky terrain, slipping off of the edge for a moment, before he regained his footing with a racing heart. He'd almost gone over the ledge! He was sure that the other wolf had noticed him, but he seemed much more concerned about whatever was over the edge.

Mumbling an effusive apology, Cisco was drawn back to the edge, despite the potential danger of an angry wolf. Now standing half a dozen feet from the stranger, he moved closer to the edge much more carefully. He leaned forward carefully and his deep brown eyes went wide at the sight below him. "Brennor?" His voice was a shaky whisper. He gazed down at the pale silver and cream wolf. The thick pelt, the build, the coloring were all right. But the age was not. This wolf lacked the greying around the muzzle that his old friend would have had, just as he himself did. This wolf was younger, but he was Brennor incarnate. Cisco knew that if he could look the fallen wolf in the eyes, that they would be the color of golden honey, just like his father. This wasn't his old friend. This was his son. Somehow, the fates had spared him from the disastrous wildfire so long ago. He knew this young man. "Koda..." His voice trailed off, trembling as he wondered if the boy was still alive...

A warmth pooled beneath his skull, a sickly, sticky feeling that was at odds with the chill of the surrounding snow. He could hear someone yelling his name, but the voice was distant, as if echoed across immeasurable distances. He wondered who could be calling for him, and why they sounded so scared. Was something the matter? Koda wished to lift his head, open his eyes, see just what was going wrong but found it impossible to even peek open a single eye. He wanted to help them, but couldn't bring his body to cooperate. His head, his eyelids, even his thoughts felt like heavy boulders, too difficult to move. His body demanded rest, and Koda found himself too weak to resist it.

Silence wrapped around his ears, the howling wind of the heights and the voice calling his name giving way to nothing. It was almost soothing, and if his head didn't ache so badly it would have been. He stepped forward in the darkness, ears and eyes searching but finding nothing. A gentle, feminine voice called his name, and his head turned to seek it. A she-wolf with an emerald eye that seemed to look right into his heart stood in the distance, so far out of reach. Walking, running, he tried to reach her but no matter how fast he ran she never did seem to get any closer. How long he had been running for, he didn't know. It could have been centuries, and he would run a million more for her. However, his efforts went unrewarded, and with a shimmer she simply disappeared into the darkness.

The sounds of the world gradually returned to him, and with great effort, Koda managed to work open a single honeyed eye. The brightness was blinding and he had to squint against the pale grey sky dappled by drifting snowflakes. It was winter, definitely, but just where in the world was he? His gaze wandered up the rocky wall that loomed above him, catching sight of two worried faces peering down at him. The first, a dark wolf, he did not know, but the other face, a rosey-furred older male took Koda by surprise.

"Cisco?" Koda murmured, and without thinking he made a move to stand before pain lanced through his skull and forced him back down to the ground. His eyes clamped shut, head pressed back against the snow, waiting for the agony to end. He wondered if it truly had been Cisco he had seen, after all, Koda had thought everyone had perished in the fire. Was it that Cisco was really alive? Or were they both dead? Unable to let the question sit unanswered for a moment longer, Koda forced his eyes back open, staring up at Cisco awestruck. "Is that really you?" Koda asked in a low voice.

Arla and Emma are the ish and made my pretties!
Koda will most likely always be accompanied by Chiron unless otherwise stated, or requested.

(Sorry for the lateness)

Shade ran down the slope as fast as he could, his eyes focused on one thing alone, his leader. He noticed another wolf, he growled, that other wolf wouldn't dare touch Koda. He raced down the slopes that led to the rocky edges that Koda was at. "KODA! Koda are you alright?!?" He called out, his eyes panged with worry. He hped his leader was fine, if not, the pack, Nina, Elettra. They would all kill him, he'd die painfully too.

He looked at Cisco as he reached the bottom. It seemed Koda knew this wolf, he could not connect the dots. "Who are you?" He asked, directing his attention to the uncle of his leader. He examined Koda to access the injuries. Hopefully Koda could be fixed up nice and eaily by Elettra, it seemed he was in shity shape. Would there be recovery for him? Was he forever more a gimp? No, he couldn't be, not now, not a wolf like him. What had Koda done to deserve such a punishment as this?

His ears flattened against his head as he sniffed for infections. He remembered briefly learning how to seperate infections from wounds as a pup from his mother, though his father insisted they learn other, and 'more useful skills' and so they didn't learn much. His scents were more fading as he'd never really accessed like this before. It made him on edge. He had to make sure nothing was wrong. Perhaps this one wolf was a healer? "Are you a healer?" He asked Cisco, he desperately hoped.

(This post was last modified: Jan 27, 2013, 07:06 PM by Shade.)

Cisco was still in shock as the other wolf growled a warning at him, before making his way down to Koda. Koda. He still couldn't believe his own eyes and he wondered how it was possible that he too had survived the fire. But he looked badly injured, maybe badly enough that he wouldn't survive this. When the fallen wolf lifted his head painfully and said his name, Cisco was galvanized into action and he too made his way precariously down to Koda and the dark stranger. When he was close to the pair, his nose quickly told him that these two were in the same pack. This almost panicked young man was part of Koda's new family.

Despite the earlier warning, Cisco approached Koda and his heart wrenched at his condition. He was bloody, barely conscious and dazed. But he remembered his old friend. The mature wolf felt his eyes well up and he prayed that he wouldn't lose Koda just moments after finding him again. "Yes, Koda. It's me, my friend! His voice cracked and he couldn't say more. He glanced briefly at the other wolf, Koda's pack mate, before he inched closer and touched his nose to Koda's neck reassuringly, almost panicking himself at the strong scent of fresh blood. So much blood...

It finally registered that the other wolf was speaking to him, asking who he was and if he was a healer. His sorrowful chocolate eyes met the boy's and he fought to get the words past the knot of emotion tightening his throat. "I'm Cisco Moriel. An old family friend... from a different time and place..." How he wished that he could answer the second question differently. "No lad, I'm no Healer. I-I know some of the basic stuff, but he'll need the best. I do know that time is of the essence with such a head injury though. Do you know where one is? Can you find one? I will stay with him. H-he is like a nephew to me. Please tell me that you can get someone to help!" His words tumbled out in desperation. He didn't know this area or hardly anyone in it, but this boy did. He had to know a Healer....

Koda's brows furrowed as the brown wolf barreled towards him, asking if he was alright. The man somehow knew his name and truly looked worried for him, and Koda felt bad for not even knowing who he was. The longer he stared and tried to recall if there was anything familiar about the black mask of the male's face, the worse his skull seemed to throb.

A smile lit Koda's face, the reassuring touch of his uncle's snout much more comforting than the intrusive sniffing of the stranger. The little bit of contact was enough proof that Cisco was well and truly alive. The question of if anyone else was had made it out unharmed bubbled up into his thoughts, but that would be a question for another time. Something was wrong, but with his mind stuck like molasses Koda couldn't quite piece together the pain of his body and the distress of the others.

Koda's eyelids started to flick, threatening to close and let sleep pull him under again. Cisco's panicked voice was oddly soothing in its familiarity, the cant of his speech a sort of lullaby that his head couldn't help but sleepily nod along with. He tried to listen but really only caught a few words as they seemed to drift over his ears. One thing he did catch, however, was the phrase "head injury". A frown pulled at the corners of his mouth, trying to think through the fog that was hovering at the edges of his mind just waiting for the right moment to invade. It would certainly explain the excruciating pain in his head, and whatever caused that probably had something to do with the lesser burning along his shoulder. But, what had happened?

He looked upwards at Cisco, feeling like a child at his parents paws, utterly helpless.

(This post was last modified: Jan 25, 2013, 08:22 AM by Koda.)

Arla and Emma are the ish and made my pretties!
Koda will most likely always be accompanied by Chiron unless otherwise stated, or requested.

Shade shook his head, time was essence and he wasn't sure if he could get them up a mountain to Poison Path. If they did, that would create debt to be owed for helping the leader live. They needed to get Koda to Elettra as soon as possible. "I know where a healer is, Elettra, leading lady to my pack beside Koda is a healer. But it will take at least a day to get him to her. It's down out of the mountains. There is another pack, but they wouldn't help us, they're just up the mountains." He reported to the stranger.

"Elettra is our best hope to help him. If you could help me, we can get him down there in half a day if we go through with no breaks." He reported, assuming conditions were perfect to, they needed to get help. "I need to save my alpha, my friend." He said quietly to himself. It's official, Nina, Elettra and Willow Ridge are all going to kill me. He determined this Cisco person should know what happened.

"We were hunting a ledge up, had a deer by the leg and Koda went to give it the killing blow, well, he fell off the ledge and now we're here. It's up to you, I cannot get him down there myself." The guardian confessed to Cisco. It wasn't weakness. Koda obviously knew this person. But when he looked at Koda, Koda looked confused, like he didn't know what was going on. "It'll be alright Koda, we'll get you back to Willow Ridge." He said, he wasn't sure if Koda was aware of the conversation. He didn't know much of those being victims to head injuries.

Cisco was worried. Koda seemed to recognize him just fine but looked quite confused when he looked at Shade, almost like he didn't know him. But the younger wolf claimed to be a pack mate, so he must know him... yet he didn't appear too. His head injury must be pretty bad. This terrifying thought galvanized Cisco into action. A brief hope that the dark male didn't take offense to him taking charge of the situation in this moment came to him and then was pushed aside. Koda was what mattered. Right now, he needed two things and the first was to get up off of this ledge.

He turned his gaze back the way that he and Shade had come down. It was fairly steep and looked to be a challenge for even an uninjured wolf to travel back up. He looked behind him at the other side of the ledge and it looked to have less of an incline, but was covered by more brush. The dried greenery might slow them down, but that was inconsequential. In his current condition, it would be the safest way to get all of them back to the top safely.

He turned his chocolatey eyes towards Shade, his worry written all over his face. But through his worry, he had a plan and his past experience as a leader made it easy for him to assume temporary charge of the 'mission'. "Shade. We need to get him back to the top. If we work together, we can each support a side and help Koda up." He looked at the drop off from this level. It was quite a bit farther and if any of them fell the end result would be....unfavorable. "I will take the outside." His loss, should it come, would leave hardly a ripple, but Shade and Koda still had much more living to do.

He nudged Koda once more, with a bit more urgency to rouse him to alertness. "Koda. Koda, it's time to get up. We need to get back up to the top. You can lean on us." He waited patiently for Koda to stagger to his feet and took his position on the injured male's left, leaving the right side for Shade to support. Together, the three of them made their way slowly and painfully up the brush covered trail to the top where it had all started.

Now for the second thing that Koda needed. A Healer. Panting lightly from the effort of the climb, he told Koda to lay down and rest and turned towards Shade once more. "You must get your Healer, Shade. I will stay with Koda. He needs help as soon as possible." He hoped that the dark man would understand the need for haste. Koda would slow them down and time was of the essence. He would be ten times as fast if he ran ahead for help.

Shade's words snaked in and out of his ears, and intermittently they wavered between cognition and confusion in his bleary mind. The brown wolf mentioned something about a leading lady beside him... He flicked a creamy ear, sure he must have misheard the man. That really was the only explanation, that his muddled brain had simply muddled the meaning.

As he got to his paws his stomach roiled and the incline felt like it was tipping and lurching under his feet. Stars burst across his vision from standing too quickly, and for a moment he staggered before leaning heavily on Cisco and the dark wolf. Gradually things steadied, and he let the two practically drag him up the incline. He'd really have to thank the stranger for helping him.

It was a tough climb upwards, his head pounding in time with the blood in his veins and his shoulder stinging in contact with the icy air. His feet felt unsteady and unsure beneath him, and he was grateful the support of the wolves at his side kept was enough to keep him from tumbling down the mountainside. Grateful to have the chance to rest again Koda lowered himself onto the snowy ground, quickly curling up his large form and tucking his nose under the tip of his tail. As it became evident the brown wolf was being sent off for help, Koda murmured a sleepy "Thank you," with his eyes already threatening to close again.

Arla and Emma are the ish and made my pretties!
Koda will most likely always be accompanied by Chiron unless otherwise stated, or requested.

Shade listened to Cisco and nodded. His eyes and nose scenting and looking around. "I can't just leave him here in the mountains. Follow me down. I'll run ahead. you go down the mountains, then you'll hit the willows. Search for the pack borders. I'll alert Elettra and we'll be waiting for you." He said as he started to fun. He needed to focus on finding Elettra. He needed to trust Cisco to listen to him and take Koda down the mountains alone. His tail was level with his spine as he ran, what was going to become of Koda? It looked like he Koda didn't know who he Shade was. It hurt, he'd served many years under Koda and he wasn't ready to lose his alpha. No, I cannot think like that. Koda's gonna make it. He thought, but Cisco was right, time was the essence when it came to head injuries.

I gotta get to Elettra. I have to tell her what happened. He thought to himself. He glanced over his shoulder, forgetting that Koda and Cisco couldn't run as fast as him. "Oh no, where is he? Where are they?" He asked himself, his eyes full of concern. Now he really had to go to Elettra, Koda was missing. He started to run again, as fast as the guardian could run. He pushed himself so he'd have more time perhaps to explain to Elettra what had happened. Koda knew Cisco, but Koda didn't remember him. Perhaps he believed Koda that Shade had no knowledge of his alpha and vice versa.

Cisco was relieved that Shade agreed with him. He simply had to get help as quickly as possible. The darker male gave him basic directions on how to get Koda home before he took off ahead at a frantic pace. He didn't know the lad, but his concern for Koda was palpable and the old wolf felt confident that help would soon be on it's way. He would do his best to get Koda as far as he was able, but the young wolf was in pretty sorry shape. Getting up off of the ledge had completely sapped him and he had barely gotten out a "Thank you." to Shade before he left. The lanky male didn't think that they'd be going anywhere soon.

As the younger male disappeared, Cisco moved to lay close to Koda, sharing what warmth he had to offer with the injured male. Emotion welled up in him now that the initial shock at seeing him alive, albeit barely, and the adrenaline rush that had been called up to escape the cliff had both worn off. Brennor's boy lived. Here was the last link to his old life, hanging by a thread. He had no idea of the extent of his injuries, but they were in the middle of nowhere in the mountains in the dead of winter. There was no healer nearby, so Koda's life now hung on one young wolf finding help in time. He could only prey that the injuries were not too severe, although it seemed that he had lost at least some of his memory. He knew Cisco, but he hadn't seemed to recognized his own pack mate. That was certainly not a good sign.

Knowing that there was little else that he could do right now, he simply lay by his young friend, reassuring him that he was not alone. With a false confidence in his voice he told Koda brightly, "Help will be here soon, son." With that he turned his head slightly away from Koda's, so that if he opened his golden eyes, he would not see the tears gleaming in his own sorrowful brown ones. Koda could not die.