Fallen Tree Cove loving can hurt

March 9th 2016
Around 7pm
Light Snow, 25F/-4C

All Welcome! Pleas note Draven has not crossed the border but he is pretty close. His paw/ankle is broken and he will need medical assistance. 

He had been searching for a pack. Heartwood River to be exact. First heading east until he had entered a type of woods that made his very soul cold. He could still feel the eyes on his back when he laid down at night, as if the ghouls that lived there had taken root within him even as the trees fell away to stone. He had ascended the mountain, reaching heights he could have only dreamed of on the dwarf of a mountain he had been born on. He thought it would be easy to find @Karina's birth pack where he could find out more about his mother, which just showed how naive he truly was. He had started following a fairly well beaten path along the spine of the crags which unknowingly led him farther and farther from where he wanted to be.

It had been so long since he had any idea of where he was or even if he was going in the right direction. Which explained his excitement when he stumbled upon the scents of many wolves. The night was fading into an inky blue and the temperature dipping enough that the misty rain that had fallen all day began to turn to snow. Coming upon the scent of a pack his half starved mind had no qualms as his body began sprinting towards it calling out excitedly. He had found her!

It was almost too late when he realized his grave mistake, this was not Hearthwood River. He didn't recognize a single scent among these strangers. His calling ceased completely and paws scrabbled to find purchase against the slick stone. He slid nearly a foot before his paw became trapped within an uneven surface where the ground had a deep fissure running through it. Yelping in pain as his front left paw got lodged deep enough in the crack that his momentum whipped his body around there was a large cracking sound and suddenly his vision was white with pain. He couldn`t hold back the howl that ripped through him despite knowing he was much too close to the pack's borders. He was in trouble now.

(This post was last modified: Mar 28, 2016, 03:28 AM by Draven.)

The scorching flames had officially died off, leaving behind a lasting memory of the past week of bliss with her mate. Her scent had changed noticeably by now, and from her past experience she knew what this meant and the knowledge made her antsy for the future. Honestly, Namid could really only hope that she wasn’t as sick as she had been with the trio. Just the memory of the bout she’d went through made her stomach churn, but she pushed the thought aside and instead chose to day dream about what their next brood might be like and how many they might have as she traversed the borders.

She wasn’t expecting the scent that blew across, permeating the breeze and making her cock her head to the side. For it to be as strong as it was they had to be awfully close to their borders, and her mismatched gaze narrowed before she picked up her pace. Good mood as she was in, she wouldn’t be happy with a loner simply skirting their way over into the Cove’s territory especially with the current time of the year. Her hormones were only going to get crazier, too. Suddenly, a throat-ripping howl tore through the air and her mood went from annoyance to worry. Her pace moved even faster to reach the scene, and as she came on it she briefly had a flash back to the last year when another certain black yearling had come to steal what was theirs.

But, this was already much different. Skinny and weather beaten as this boy was, he was clearly not even a year old yet. He actually looked to be about the age of her own youth and automatically her mother instincts kicked in. He wasn’t yet over her borders, but it didn’t matter to her. With the way it looked, he wouldn’t be moving anywhere but around their communal den if he so accepted for a while. His ankle was shifted at an awkward angle, so unnatural that she knew it couldn’t be anything other than broken and, internally, she winced. Namid came upon the boy cautiously, like moving toward a spooked deer.  “Hey there, my name is Namid Vuesain. I want to help you, alright? I will not touch you unless you say it is okay, but…it seems like you are really hurt, yeah? I can help, but you have to let me,” she said gently. Even though she was the matriarch, she looked anything but the part at that moment. Her posture was relaxed, head down, tail down, trying to make herself look smaller to the terrified boy whose gaze looked like two large emeralds. Briefly she wondered how he had gotten into this predicament in the first place, but that was put to the side to focus on the task at hand.

Throwing Neha in here as well!
<3

When the ear shattering howl went up, Neha froze instantly. Whoever it was, they sounded quite distressed. And it was coming from just beyond the borders too. Earthy brown eyes narrowing thoughtfully, the Lake princess set her jaw, mind already made up. She would not let another innocent soul suffer needlessly. Not while she was around. There had to be something she could do to help, in one way or another. Breaking off into a swift jog, she set a course for the borders, close to the mountains. 

As she drew closer and closer, two distinct scents filtered into her dark nose. The first was foreign...that of an outsider. The second belonged to her mother, but there was something...different about it. For weeks now, Neha had noticed the change in both Namid's scent and behavior. Too young and un-educated to know what it means, the budding female was left bewildered. She gave a mental shake of her head, tossing aside those curious thoughts with it. As her paws set upon the familiar rocky stones, which she was so used to traversing, her eyes adjusted to take in the scene laid out before her.

Just a few yards from the borders, sat an ebony coated male, around her own age with vibrant green eyes. He looked frightened, confused and ill fed. What on earth was a boy her age doing out here alone, without a pack...a family to protect him? Neha's gaze was instantly drawn to Draven's left front ankle. The way it was twisted was completely un-natural, and she knew instantly, that something awful had happened. Normally, the cream and rust tinted princess would have been her usual eager self, excited to meet someone her own age. Not this time. Sensing the seriousness of the situation, she mirrored her mother, moving in slowly, delicately. Her audits pressed back against her skull, legs bent as she eased closer, sweeping against Namid's side. She caught her mother's words, and respectfully hung back. "Hi...I'm Neha Vuesain. What...happened to you...?" She asked steadily, but with a deep concern in her voice. Gleaming eyes flickered over to the pale form of Namid, the vivid yet distant memory of the time she had come down with a cold, rushing back. "Mom...tell me what I can do to help. Please." She teetered on begging, but it was clear by the look in her eyes, that Neha wanted to learn. She wouldn't take no for an answer.

Neha can often be found close to Aleister's side and therefore may appear in any of his threads.

The moments he was alone after his howl was filled with loud sobbing as he tried in vain to free his foot from the rock. Each time he tugged a stabbing pain shot up his leg as if it were on fire. His whole ankle throbbed intensely and his paw tingled like he was stepping on pine needles. Was there pine needles in this hole? Or worse had he shoved his foot in an ant nest and now they were going to eat him alive? His mind was too distorted by the pain to rationalize that it was still too cold for ants, even if he had managed to shove his paw in their nest, which he hadn't.

At the sound of paw steps he leapt to his feet from where he had been laying which once again wrenched on his trapped limb. Whimpering both in pain and fear that this was a member of the pack come to finish him off his eyes were more white than green. He had to twist his neck awkwardly to look over his shoulder at the woman's approach and his whole body seemed to shrink as she came into view.

The trembles that racked his body sent stabbing pain down his leg once more but he couldn't control them, the shock from the accident and the fear he felt now gripped him tightly. As the woman who introduced herself as Namid began to speak he visibly flinched away from her, expecting a much different greeting.  Opening one eye he had instinctively squeezed shut he stared at her for a minute before whimpering once more, "Its...Its stuck."  The arrival of another had his panic heightening and green eyes flashed between the pair, terrified they would try to get his paw out, but equally terrified they would leave him there.

-pleads for forgiveness-

The boy flinched away as she came near, and she wouldn’t have expected much differently from the frightened youth. Faint footfalls alerted the female to the presence of another approaching, and she turned to find the pale form of her look-alike daughter. A faint sense of pride bubbled in her chest as her child seemed to recognize the situation, adapting to mirror Namid and gently introducing herself. Her attention turned back to the Queen and she asked what it was that she could do to help. The Star Dancer moved to get a closer look at the appendage and its position wedged between two rocks, and she internally cursed. There was no other way than to move the rocks, then the next trick would be to get him into a position where they could get him to the medical den and properly treated.

“What is your name?” she asked, a comforting smile adorning her lips to accompany her calm voice. They all needed to be calm in this situation, panic would only make matters worse and possibly send the boy into shock which was never a good thing. “I swear to you that we are not here to hurt you. I have been in your position before, and I know it is very scary and you are in a lot of pain. But, I need you to trust me okay? We need to move the rocks to get your leg unstuck. You cannot stay like this forever. It will hurt, but I want to get you to our medical den as quickly as possible so that we may get that fixed. It will be okay, I will not let anything happen to you,” Namid said. Her tone was confident and coaxing as she moved closer, eyeing her daughter. “Neha, you will need to be next to him on the side that does not have the wounded leg to support his weight. He will not be able to walk,” she instructed. Before she did anything, she waited, looking at the boy for his permission to continue and hoping frantically that he would agree. Her motherly instincts, already in full swing due to her new pregnancy, were kicked up a notch by the sight of this boy in such a struggle. God, did she hope that he would let them help.

(This post was last modified: Apr 06, 2016, 09:58 PM by Namid.)

Sorry for the lateness here!

 

Ah, so his paw was stuck. That much was obvious, as Neha's brown eyes settled onto the rocks under which the poor boy's paw was trapped. A pained wince swept across her young face, only imagining how terrible it must feel. Being unable to move, trapped with two strange wolves before you, your paw crushed. Her silver and rust tinted ears fell back against her crown sympathetically for the boy, but she stayed glued to her spot while Namid began to speak again.

Neha could not help but feel a deep sense of admiration and respect well up in her chest as she looked at her mother, who so tenderly and patiently explained to the boy what had to be done. There was no two ways about it; they had to free his paw, even if it would cause him some more discomfort. Honestly, in her eyes the dark youth could not have been more lucky in being found by such a compassionate adult. And her request? It did not go denied. It was a start, however small, but critical nonetheless. "Right..." She said softly, padding forward slowly. Her ears then fell back in uncertainty. Would they both be able to support Draven's weight all the way back to the medicinal den? Should they have had some pain relieving herbs on hand first? So many questions ran through the curious girls young mind. The princess was inexperienced, unlike her mother, who seemed to know exactly what to do. But Namid was here, and would guide her.

Slowly, almost gingerly, she came around to Draven's right side, and stood beside him. Just a hairs inch away, they were close enough for contact, but she respectfully kept that minimal distance between them. She would not touch him until he trusted her, or was ready. Whichever came first. Instead her earthy brown eyes peered softly into his emerald green ones. "It'll be okay. You can lean against me all you want. I got ya." She assured the boy steadily, softly. Neha didn't care how much he screamed, wriggled and protested. She would not falter. Hell, she would even let the poor boy bite into the scruff of her neck, if it helped him with the pain. Patient as ever, she waited until Draven gave the signal that he was ready. 

Neha can often be found close to Aleister's side and therefore may appear in any of his threads.

Feel free to pp him howling/leaning on Neha very heavily as they move the rock! I think just one more post for you each and Draven fade and we can archive for lp and officially add Draven to the roster

The older woman, Namid, spoke first. It took a moment before the words really registered with the boy who just stared at her in panic. Then realizing her soft words required some kind of response from him the green eyes blinked a few times, "D-Draven," then as an afterthought he added, "Lagina." Even in this moment of panic the name still made him proud, he was never a Lieris and he never would be. He nodded along with her words when she said they would only help and not hurt him but he stilled when she spoke of moving the rocks. The sound of his heart beat thundered in his ears suddenly and he felt dizzy. "It's going to hurt?" She had already confirmed this but the words spoken out loud terrified him.

Still despite his fear he swallowed hard. He knew deep down that he couldn't stay stuck in this rock forever and he would have to get out somehow. Draven's stomach flip-flopped and churned uneasily but he nodded his consent anyways. Neha moved to his side and the dark pup tensed in anticipation, green eyes meeting her brown pleading her silently for something she could not deliver. She spoke and his only response was to turn his face away, eyes clenching shut, teeth gritting together as his stomach lurched. He wasn't ready but it was going to have to happen anyways.

The dark wounded boy seemed to stare at her for a moment, registering what she had said before finally replying. “D-Draven…Lagina,” he replied, and she nodded in encouragement. Motion caught her eye as her daughter moved to his side like she had told her, appreciating that she wasn’t asking questions and simply listening. It would make things easier in the long run, as Namid was confident in herself that what she was doing was correct. The only thing she worried about was getting the bone set in time and getting him the pain medication that he would certainly need.

The Star Dancer moved in front of the boy, taking one final look at the rock and nodding to herself as she decided the best way to go about it. He questioned about it going to hurt, but she decided that, by the tone of his voice and the fact that she had already answered it, it was more to himself than for an actual answer. “Alright Draven, I am going to count to 3. We will get you right to our medicine den afterwards and get you all fixed up,” she said, telling him step by step what she was going to do. The woman found it comforted others more to know what was going on than to be left completely in the dark. Wolves needed to feel like they were having some control in a situation, and to know what was going on or what was going to happen seemed to help with that feeling.

She nodded to her daughter to let her know to be ready before taking a breath herself. Positioning her paw just under a crack that provided a bit of wiggle space for the appendage, she prepared to roll it off. “Okay,” a breeze buffeted the rocky mountain, “One,” sweat collected against her skin beneath her pelt making her feel musky. “Two,” and despite her saying she was going to count to 3, she was moving, pulling backwards on the rock with a sharp grunt, muscles pulling taunt under her pelt and with a little creak the rock fell backwards, releasing the paw.

Then the howling started.

The woman’s ears flattened and she cringed, biting back the tears that sprang to her eyes at the pain that boy was experiencing. “It is okay, you are okay. I am sorry, I am sorry,” she cooed, moving herself to his side and trying to still his jumpy movements and aid her smaller daughter in supporting his weight. “Quickly, now. It will get better once we get you to the medicine den,” she said, pressing forward gingerly in an attempt to lead him. Shakily, Draven followed and she navigated them as best she could over the flatter expanse of the land. Slowly, rugged rocks melted away into a small pine forest. A little further, and a hole opened up into a wide entrance in the side of a rock face. Upon getting closer, the scent of herbs permeated the air both fresh and dried. Though Namid was no formally trained medic, she knew her way around thanks to her mother’s teachings and because she was the only one in the pack that knew such things she had made it a goal to herself to keep the den well stocked for situations just like this.

Leading them in, she placed the boy in a corner bedded with mosses and pine needles then went straight to work. She collected golden rod, hellebore, pineapple weed, Western Redcedar, and finally/most importantly Solomon’s Seal. Chewing the golden rod and mixing it with oils from the pines of the western redcedar she concocted an effective poultice that would seal the scrapes and wounds that had been given by the rocks. But, before that could be applied she needed to get him to eat the hellebore, though in a carefully controlled dose, for his pain, and the roots of the Solomon’s seal to aid in his bone repair. Carrying them over to him, she placed the herbs in front of him. “Draven, these herbs are going to help you. The hellebore,” she motioned to the herb, “is going to help with pain, and the Solomon’s Seal,” motioning to the other, “is going to help your bones. They will not taste the best, but they will help you feel better shortly.” She watched and waited for him to take it, then once satisfied she carried over the poultice placed in a large leaf. “This is going to help your cuts and scratches and keep them from getting infected. It might sting a little. I’m going to help to set your bone first. It will be the worst of it, but the hellebore should kick in here shortly,” she said, an apologetic grimace showing on her face.

Bending down, she placed her paw on one side of the unnaturally curves appendage and her paw on the other. Then, in a quick motion she brought them toward each other and with a sickening popping, creaking sound the appendage was straightened out. “You are doing great Draven, absolutely wonderful. You are being very brave, the worst part is over now.” Soothing words were all she had, regrettably, until the pain meds kicked in for the poor boy.

Gently she gathered the poultice on her tongue and spread it over the paw, being careful to cover each and every scrape there and even going as far as to do the same with any other open wounds that might have been on his pelt. “Alright, it is all done now. I would recommend trying to sleep, if you cannot I can give you something for that as well. Call if you need anything, I will be close by and I am sure Neha here would love to keep you company if you wanted it. Do not try and lick any of the poultice off,” she said. A final, encouraging smile was given to the boy before she turned and left the den. The oils from the western redcedar weren’t meant to be ingested, and she needed to rinse her mouth quickly. She wasn’t going to take any chances with her pregnancy so early.

Resources by freepik.com, table by Kydnt

The boy's green eyes were still squeezed firmly shut but he nodded along with her instructions showing that he understood what was going to happen. She would count to three and then she was going to pull the rock and it was going to hurt. As soon as Namid said the word one Draven drew in a deep breath, holding it even when his lungs screamed at him to let it out. The word two was barely out of her mouth before a sudden searing pain shot up his leg like fire ripping through his muscles. Despite having promised himself that he wouldn't act like a cripple or a little boy a howling sound began.

Draven didn't know who was making the sound but he wished that they would stop, it was only making this worse. His eyes were still shut but he could tell by the sound of whoever was howling that it was bad, that it was really bad. It wasn't until he had to take a breath that the Lagina realized it was himself. Suddenly the sound cut off as he gasped for air, world swirling around him dizzily even behind closed eyelids. He stumbled slightly as the wooziness took hold, leaning hard against Neha and putting too much pressure on the injured paw.

It was enough for a sharp whine to be released as he wrenched the dark paw away from the ground again. It wasn't until he felt a warm but firm pressing on his side that Draven opened his eyes though the world still swam around him. Still he followed the silent command, the travel to the medicine den a blur that the child would hardly remember the following morning. The smell of herbs was suddenly around him and the child blinked his eyes open not realizing they had drooped.

He barely had the energy to chew what he was given let alone notice the taste, he was exhausted despite the sharp pain in his leg. This too intensified suddenly as Namid set them and once more a tortured howl rose from him, almost drowning out the sick crunch his ankle made. Surely the whole pack had heard him by now, a fact that would embarrass the boy later but wasn't a thought in his mind now. The mother's words were all but lost on the boy as his head settled on his non injured side, eyelids finally closing. He mumbled some kind of thanks before slipping into the last good sleep he would have for a while. Tomorrow the exhausting task of healing really began.

Hurrying down to the lakeside, she dipped her head and lapped at the liquid. Swishing it around in her jaws, she spit it back out then repeated this a few times. After she was certain she’d rid herself of it, she took to rinsing her paws as well. As she did so, her thoughts turned to Draven. It had been horrible what he’d had to go through, and she wouldn’t have wished the sort of agony that she had seen him experience on her worst enemy. She wondered why a boy his age had been alone in the first place, with no obvious scent of pack on his dark pelt. Where had he come from, and what had he been through prior to their finding him? All these thoughts ran rampant in her mind, everything from the worst case scenario of his past to the best case. Of course, being the optimistic woman she was she hoped for the best but she knew in this cruel world a simple exploration trip wasn’t likely. Not in the emaciated state he was in. She didn’t mean to pry, but she knew that if he were to be staying in their lands she’d need to know much more about him and the situation they could be getting themselves into.

But, a conversation like that would have to take place after time. After he was much better, perhaps even healed, so that there wouldn’t be any more unnecessary strain on his body. He’d already been through hell that day, a few weeks of rest and care were the least they could give him.

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