Secret Woodlands Broken

@Rayne - So sorry, here it finally is!! (Feel free to praise me for my AMAZINGLY ORIGINAL thread-naming skills xD)

- Hopelessly far backdated to: 04/07/2014

She was out patrolling, again, pretty much all she did these days; The life of a pack wolf. Even though the herds had returned with spring, making food much easier to find, the borders still needed to be maintained; and she needed to gather herbs to refill the stores, which were still low. Though she had begun her training as a healer, so far it was pretty much all she was good for - her head was full of new knowledge, lists of plants endlessly repeating in her mind as she walked - but she longed to learn more, and to use her knowledge in praxis. For now she rebuild the stores, patrolling the borders while waiting for her next lesson. This was how she used her time, she patrolled, she hunted, she slept; whenever @Nina had the time, she taught her. @Coal had left, gone scouting across the mountains and would likely be gone for several weeks. She was sad to see him go, her heart aching even though she knew he would come back; I should have gone with him! The orange girl stopped up, shaking her head; her place was here, helping out the pack. Sighing, she lowered her head once more, sniffing to find the scent trail to continue her patrol; but her snout caught another smell. She jerked her head back up, ears circling attentively; Blood! For a moment thrill rushed through her body, then she realized the horrible truth; this wasn't the smell of prey! Feet picking up speed quickly, the young wolfess followed her sharp nose through the thicket, skillfully weaving in and out between trunks and branches like she had done so many times before. Her eyes were dilated in panic, heart racing, yet her mind was surprisingly clear, already working through the countless possibilities to try and decide on appropriate action. Only when she arrived upon the scene did she mentally shut down, body freezing in lace as she saw the victim. She was in a small clearing somewhere mid between the borders and the pack den at the center of the territory. The forest reeked of wolves blood, and on the ground, the remaining snow beneath him slowly colored red by his blood, lay Rayne. His eyes were closed, his side barely moving as he breathed, and his leg was bend in an unnatural angle, the white edge of a broken bone visible through a nasty wound; "Rayne! Oh no Rayne, what has happened to you?!" Word count: 416 ”Speech” Thoughts

Hjoranna @DA & Dawnthieves.de

PLOT WITH ME!

At first, all that was there to Rayne was darkness and silence. He couldn’t see or hear anything at all, which disturbed him greatly. It shouldn’t be like that at all. The male normally had keen senses and often prided himself on them, though he did so inwardly. To have his ears feel as if they were filled with soft moss and his eyes refused to open...It frightened him more then anything. Then he heard a worried voice calling out to him, his mind taking the words in as a river takes in a slow trickle of water. “Rayne!...pened to you?” Who was Rayne? He thought muzzily at them as they made him frown slightly. Or at least, he tried to. His body, for whatever reason wasn’t cooperating with him. It wouldn’t move to the commands his brain sent it and as he tried to concentrate, sudden pain bloomed through his leg up to the rest of him and unconsciously, he whimpered. What had happened? He could barely recall where he was or why he was so cold yet so warm at the same time. His skin itched uncomfortably and his throat called for water. How long had it been since he had eaten or drunk anything? How long had he lain on the hard ground? The ache in his body wasn’t helping at all. He wanted it to go away so he could sleep. Yet the feeling someone was close to him-the wolf who cried out before?-made him curious and he tried to force his eyes open.

He lay still, so frighteningly still; Is he dead? No, Rayne can't be dead! Her brain was screaming at her; No! IDIOT! He's not dead, he's breathing! Yes, that was right, his flank still fluttered lightly as he drew in air. The young healer sighed in relief, her legs were trembling; But he could be dying! So, you should DO SOMETHING! She shook her head, and the motion continued down through her whole body, shaking out her fur and with it the shock that had frozen her up. Finally pushing herself into action, Aideen moved forwards, closing in on her friend, head lowered. Her eyes ran over the reddish male, searching for any other visible wounds; she found none. Moving along his flank, careful not to touch the broken leg, she sniffed at his fu, trying to determine what had left him so terribly banged up; Was it a bear?! The injury looked like it had been caused by a large animal, but he didn't smell of anything other than wolf. Pausing to study the wound closer, the orange lass wrinkled her nose at the smell and tried to calm her stomach as she looked at the shattered bone. It was no clean break, and the tearing of the skin and flesh was definitely done by teeth; but the wound was terribly mangled, and she couldn't tell what beast had left them. She pulled back, taking a deep breath - despite her best efforts, she was beginning to feel a little queasy - and looked at the whole leg. It was bend at an odd angle, it would have to be straightened out. She swallowed; But that can wait... The wound was still bleeding, what was most important now was to stop it. Clenching her teeth, the young healer looked around, her desperation was rapidly growing, she didn't know enough about this type of wound; Pressure, I need to apply pressure! She cast another glance at the lesion, swallowing once more; Pressure... There was only one thing to do. Brows wrinkled in concern, she looked up at Rayne's face, heart thumbing in her chest. She had to. Hopefully he was so distant that he wouldn't even feel... Just then, his eyelids fluttered, a low whimper escaping him; Crap! Aideen looked down at the leg, then back to the brown wolf's face. What should she do? After a moments uncertainty, she stepped over to his head, lowering her muzzle down next to his. She could feel his breath against her fur, slow and unsettlingly cold; "Rayne...?" She whispered, voice hoarse. Then, after clearing her throat, she tried again, louder: "Rayne, are you awake?" The knowledge of what she had to do painfully clear in her mind, she hoped the answer would be no; but then she saw his eyelids twitch again. Word count: 471 ”Speech” Thoughts

Hjoranna @DA & Dawnthieves.de

Rayne could barely tell what was happening around him as he struggled to open his eyes-why did he want to open them anyway? Darkness was calling him, coaxing him to fall into and not come out again. It felt comforting and promised to take away the pain. But something deep inside him told him to fight it and to not give in. There were things to live for! A tiny voice shouted in his ear. Rayne was puzzled. He would simply be going to sleep, not dying. However, the soft voice from before called out, it sounding worried and almost…frightened? Why would she be frightened for him? Finally managing to force his eyes open, the bright orange falling on the wolf that was settled close to his face, a look of worry clear on her face. “A-aid?” He managed to croak out, trying to blink the fuzziness of the world away but failing to do so. “W-whaa…?” His tongue was thick in his mouth as he tried to speak and still, the urge to simply fall asleep was there, at the edge of his muddled mind. Tugging at him to just follow and that everything would be just fine. But Aideen was standing nearby and she looked far too concerned for him simply feeling a little sleepy and confused. After a few moments, her question settled in his brain. ”Yeess?” The word was drawled out as he tried to roll onto his feet. Which, in hindsight, hadn’t been a good idea because as he simply lifted the bloody leg, he let out a howl of pain.

(This post was last modified: May 27, 2014, 05:29 AM by Rayne.)

Ooc: Enjoy my attempt at making wolves do first aid xD

The young healer bit her lip, staring wide eyed at her friend while she waited for him to respond; with every second she felt both more at peace with what she was about to do, and more frightened that he was already beyond saving. But then his eyes opened, and an icy spear of relief and agony shot through her heart; Aww no! His voice was raw, like his throat was full of gravel, and though he seemed to be looking at her, his eyes were unclear. "Rayne..." She said softly, face twisted in fear and concern. He tried to say more, but he seemed close to delirious and the words he managed to get out were slurred; "It's okay..." She tried to comfort him, but it didn't sound sincere. Aideen cast a glance down at the leg, it was still bleeding. Grinding her teeth she looked back at her friends face, pain in her wide, copper eyes; "Rayne, I have to..." He was moving now, trying to roll over; "No! Don't try to..." Too late. With a heart wrenching cry, the russet man collapsed back down. The small wolfess watched with horror, feeling an echo of his pain in her own bones; Oh no Rayne! Moving quickly, she stepped onto his shoulder to hold him down before he tried to move again; "You have to lie still!" She commanded, feeling a sudden, icy calm rush over her. Eyes swiftly sweeping over his body below her, she felt the strangeness of professional detachment, as she was able to process it all without her concern and fear for her friend clouding her judgment. Keeping a paw on his shoulder blade, as a gentle reminder of her order, the orange healer stepped back down, looking once more at the broken leg, then at her patients face; There's no other way. She took a deep breath; "Rayne, I have to stop the bleeding. This is gonna hurt but you have to lie still." Putting extra emphasis on the last words, she stared into his dim eyes, hoping to see understanding; I can't wait any longer! Nodding once to herself, Aideen gritted her teeth again, taking her paw away from Rayne's shoulder and turned to the wounded leg. The snow beneath it was already soaked with crimson, and more blood continued to flow from the torn flesh. Moving quickly, the slender fae found a patch of clean snow and scraped together a small pile. Then, after running her eyes over the surroundings for a while she found a thick branch of birch, swiftly stripping off a broad strand of bark; Okay then, here I go! Scoping up the gathered snow with her bark strip, she moved over to Rayne's leg, gently arranging the snow around the wound; "Alright, lie still! " She smoothed the bark around the snow and wound it round the leg, then she grabbed the end of the strip between her teeth, put one paw on the leg to steady it, and pulled; I'm sorry Rayne! She tugged at the bark with all her strength, tightening it around the wound, pulling it together and pressing the snow against it too cool it down. She would have to keep her hold for a few minutes now; Just hold out! Word count: 546 ”Speech” Thoughts

Hjoranna @DA & Dawnthieves.de

”Wat’s hap’in?” Rayne tried to ask again, his words still slurring together as Aideen pushed him back to the ground just as he tried to get back up. Shock still was coursing through his system, making him confused and his mind feeling like it was full of bees. Buzzing and he couldn’t concentrate properly. Squinting, he tried turning his head to look at Aideen as she spoke, trying to listen to her words but this time, his body wouldn’t listen to him and his head barely moved. But then something cold and hard was felt against his leg-he hissed at the contact, it both burning and cooling his wound at the same time. It somehow felt good yet also painful. How could something feel painful yet nice at the same time? He could not understand it at all. “...lie still!” He was lying as still as he could! What did she expect him to do, jump up and do the hula, with how his leg was feeling? Why he tried standing up before, he had no idea. it hadn’t been a good idea obviously, from both the pain and how Aideen reacted to him standing on his own paws. Yet it wasn’t as bad as when Aideen pulled against whatever was resting around his leg and he couldn’t stop the loud cry that escaped from his throat. He understood, barely, it was to help him but that did not mean that it did not hurt like hell!

@Rayne

The wail that escaped him as she pulled the make-shift tourniquet tight made the young healer's insides turn to ice. Flattening her ears, she tried to remember what Nina had taught her and separate her feelings from the job at hand; I need to do this! He'll die if I don't... She closed her eyes and pushed against the bark, wincing at the feeling of flesh and bone moving below her touch; He'll die if I don't! Finally, the reddish girl decided that her bandage had had enough time to set, an slowly released the pressure, careful to not disturb the fracture any more. She was gasping lightly as she straightened up, copper eyes sliding over the boy before her, inspecting the work she had just done and looking for any potential other wounds; of which she found none. How did this happen?! She wondered, looking at the, now bound in, leg with her face twisted, it was not exactly pretty; but at least it wasn't bleeding anymore. Then the tri-colored fae turned her attention back to Rayne's head, moving over to stand beside it and lowering her muzzle to his. "It's done." She said softly, looking to see if the maroon boy's eyes were still open; "I won't touch it again, I promise, but you have to stay put for now." Her voice was both kind and firm, like a parent speaking to a stubborn child. Her eyes were still glowing with concern, but as she looked him over one more time, her face turned hard; "Rayne, how did this happen to you?" Such a nasty break, coupled with no other significant bruises, that didn't happen on accident; SomeONE did this! Word count: 282 ”Speech” Thoughts

Hjoranna @DA & Dawnthieves.de