Wild Cherry Orchard raging lung

Night, clear, nearly full moon, -7 ° F, -22 ° C
Any non GH wolves welcome (for maximum plot juicyness)
Oula is still trapped in the pit she fell into in this thread. (photo, just add snow)

Oula stared up at the small circle of the star studded night sky, framed by the round walls of her prison. She'd long since given up escape from the sinkhole she'd been trapped in. Already Oula had tried everything she could think of, jumping, digging, screaming for help, scratching the frozen dirt walls until the very claws ripped from her digits. Her cracked and bloodied paw pads proved that escape was simply impossible alone, the surface just out of reach. She even begged any gods that might be listening. 

Her coat was disgustingly filthy, caked with dirt, sweat, piss and worse, but she had stopped bothering to clean it up. She supposed she was lucky for all the snow, at least she had water in the form of frozen mouthfuls. Hunger gnawed at her and she was losing strength. She couldn't believe that this was how it would end, with her trapped like a rat in a hole.

That troglodyte bastard hadn't returned, and she was tormented by all the thoughts of what 'Azar' could be doing that very moment. Had he found her family? Little Felix or Ophelia, Joan even? Or perhaps the vile wolf had simply left, and with no one knowing of her whereabouts, she'd be left to starve to death in this little stinking pit, believed to have abandoned her family yet again. Perhaps that was really the best option, that in exchange for him leaving her family alone, she would die here.

Oula almost didn't notice it at first. A soft sound, so distant and faint. But her small brown ears flicked, and her heart quickened, thundering in her chest. She lifted her head up, black nose twitching as she scented the air. Someone was coming. "Hello?" she called, slowly drawing herself up on her paws. "Is somebody there? Hello?!" She desperately yelled, hoping this wasn't yet another hallucination.

The closer spring seemed to be the itchier his paws became to wander as he always had in search of herbs. He thought once he'd joined a pack that would stop but the only thing that had was the deep snows of the winter. He'd set out early the previous day hunting here and there in hopes of scrounging up something for the pack which he'd really only managed enough to feed himself. He also was searching for the plants and herbs that he knew to be in the area.

The healer was aware that nothing had started to sprout just yet but he felt compelled to search, to have something other to do than border patrols and hunting. The searching also gave him a calm that he hadn't felt in awhile with the hunting becoming more difficult.

Wild cherry orchard looked much different than it had when he had last been there. No leaves nor fruit on the trees. Any plants that had once grown there had long since died and now awaited their chance to sprout from the ground once more.

When he first heard it he wasn't sure that he actually had, a voice, at least that was what he thought it had been. As he drew closer he heard it once more but was unsure of where the voice was coming from. What he did know was it sounded like it belonged to a woman. “Hello,” he called out to her, “Where are you?” He hoped she could give him some indication of where she was or he could at least follow her voice.

(This post was last modified: Feb 09, 2017, 05:04 AM by Emrys.)

Please see Kajika's OOC profile for OOC preferences, thank you.

There is a moose carcass that has been scavenged by coyotes nearby. +15 Health

@Emrys

Oula waited with bated breath for a response, the passage of mere seconds feeling like hours. A masculine voice reached her, muffled by the distance and earth between them. She sharply inhaled, finally someone else, and hopefully not a dream. She still tried not to get her hopes up too much. After the display she'd been shown in the past few days she had little faith in seemingly helpful strangers anymore. She didn't like depending on others, and doing so was exactly what had gotten her into this mess in the first place. But she couldn't do this alone, and if she had any hope of getting out of here and seeing her family again, she had to put her trust in someone. 

"Here! I'm over here! Help!" Oula cried up into the starry heavens, with her dirty paws braced up against the earthen walls. "I'm trapped!" She added for emphasis, as if the desperation in her voice didn't properly convey the urgency of the situation. Whether or not they would come for her was a whole other matter. Oula stared intently at opening above, sage eyes flicking as she tried to see if the other wolf came.

With his ears perked and eyes searching he listened as hard as he could for the woman's voice to determine where she was. He didn't understand why he could hear but not see her when there wasn't anything to keep him from at least glimpsing her through the trees. It wasn't like the time he had met Jynx here when the leaves were so abundant that it made it impossible to see even a flash of her agouti pelt. The healer became worried that he wouldn't find the woman when more time passed than he was comfortable with and he hadn't heard her again.

Then finally she called to him once more his ear flicking in the direction her voice came from. He was relieved that he had a direction to look for her in the desperation in her tone still there, he knew he had to hurry. “I'm on my way,” he called to her to give her some hope that she would have some help. Emrys didn't know exactly the situation he was looking at but in that moment he was only worried about getting to her. He didn't waste any time as he moved between the cherry trees in the direction her voice had come from. Still he couldn't see her, “Call out again,” he called to her as he continued to walk.

That however became unnecessary as the mouth of the pit opened up right in his path. He felt that this was where she must be as he took careful steps to the edge. Looking down his gaze landed on that of a wolf that was in very bad shape. “Found you, finally,” he stated, “We’ve got to get you out of there,” he added as he glanced around the orchard for anything that would be of use.

(This post was last modified: Feb 11, 2017, 07:34 AM by Emrys.)

Please see Kajika's OOC profile for OOC preferences, thank you.

@Emrys

Oula's heart raced as the stranger called out to her that he was coming. She could hear his pawsteps crunching over the snow coming closer her prison, and she barked out again. "Here! Over here!" She called as he asked for direction. Oula stared up at the rim of the hole, finally seeing a pair of white ears, followed by pale blue eyes set into a kindly face peek over the edge. The first wolf she had seen or talked to in days, she felt like she could cry with joy. Her tail wagged as she saw him, staring pleadingly up at the wolf. She whined softly, pawing against the wall as he glanced about for something.

There was a fleeting moment of panic as he backed away out of sight from her vantage point below, her sage eyes widening and her heart dropping into her stomach. She understood that he was just looking for some way to get her out of there, but she was so afraid of getting left alone again. "Can you find a branch up there? Something sturdy..." She called up to him, not even knowing if something like that could be found. And then, she hoped this stranger had the strength to pull her out of here. 

He was grateful that she had called out to him again so that he had a better chance of pinpointing her location. He found it odd that as close as she sounded he still couldn't see her but it all made sense once he found the pit and her trapped at the bottom. As he looked down at her he looked for any signs of injury, there didn't seem to be anything too serious. Looking around the immediate area of the pit he didn't see anything that would help him to get her out of the pit. Looking back to her once more he said, “Don't worry I'm going to get you out if there, I just need to find something to help.”

He then left the edge of the pit hoping what he'd said would give her some comfort that she wouldn't be in there much longer. He didn't know how long she'd already been down there so he felt time was of the essence. A vine of some kind would have been the best option but he couldn't find anything like that. His ears picked up her suggestion of a branch or something sturdy, “I'm looking for one that will be long enough now,” he told her. It was a minute longer before he finally found a branch that he thought would be perfect to get her out. Picking it up in his jaw he carried it to the pit and dropped it, “I've found one,” he said as he looked over the edge of the pit once more, “I'm going to lower it down so you can grip it and I will pull you up.”With that said he picked the branch up once more in his jaws and began to lower it down to her. He was trying to be confident it would work for her sake but he couldn't be sure. The healer waited for the sensation in his jaws that would tell him she had gripped the stick and was ready to be pulled out.

(This post was last modified: Feb 17, 2017, 07:55 PM by Emrys.)

Please see Kajika's OOC profile for OOC preferences, thank you.

Though he couldn't see her, Oula nodded as he said he was going to look for something to help. She was impatient to get out of here, and had to remind herself after days of this torture, a few minutes more was nothing. Oula wanted so badly to see her family again, they must be worried about her... Or... The thought occurred to her that perhaps they'd even thought she deserted them again. She whined to herself, she really couldn't wait any longer to get out of here. She didn't want to be the one to let her family down again. She was starting to wonder if the white wolf had found something up there, or if he was even still there. Fortunately he called out to her that he had finally found something. Her small brown ears folding flat against her head, hoping it would do the trick.

"Alright," Oula said as the male explained what he was about to do. She watched with great anticipation as the end of a stick came down from the heavens, looking all for the world like god himself were lowering it down to save her. She could have cried with joy. Oula whined, shaking her head, she was really losing it. Oula reached out, sinking her teeth into the stick so firmly that the muscles of her jaw ached. She grunted around the branch, hoping he'd get the signal.

He hoped that his reassurances were enough to let her know that he wasn't just going to leave her at the bottom of that pit. The healer had no idea how she'd gotten down there in the first place or how long she'd been down there but he was going to get her out. Emrys didn't care how long it took either, it wasn't in him to give up on her. He called out to her to let her know that he had found something, a branch, that he was going to try to use to get her out. Judging the distance and length he felt that he had chosen a branch that would do the job nicely. Of course there was still the task of pulling an adult female wolf up on the other end but he had confidence he could do that as well.

Quickly he carried the branch back and explained what he was going to do to her before lowering the branch. Them both knowing what was going on was the key to their success of that he was sure. Once she agreed he took the branch I. His mouth and lowered it down to the level she needed it to be in order to grab it. Emrys felt her grab the branch in her jaws through the wood and knew that he had chosen a branch of the correct size. There wasn't any time to celebrate however as she gave a grunt which told the healer she was ready to be pulled up. Digging his feet in he started pulling, giving it everything he had to pull her out of the pit.

(This post was last modified: Mar 04, 2017, 01:00 AM by Emrys.)

Please see Kajika's OOC profile for OOC preferences, thank you.

@Emrys sorry for the wait!

With her teeth sunk deep through the dry, brittle bark, Oula felt the branch begin to move. She held so tightly the muscles in her jaw ached, her hind toes pressing against the bottom of the pit and her forepaws scrabbling at the dirt wall already scored by her scratching. Her muscles trembled with the effort, weakened over the past few days but still managing to hold on with her characteristic tenacity. Every inch she rose from the bottom of the pit felt like a mile, her eyes trained on the lip of the sinkhole that slowly came closer. Just when the edge was in reach, her bloodied forepaws sought out the edge, cracked claws sinking into the soil and pulling with all her might to hasten her escape.

Finally, with one last pull of the branch on the stranger's part and a shove with her back legs she was hauled over the precipice. Oula flopped onto the surface like a freshly caught fish, gasping with the effort as tears of joy and disbelief spilled from her eyes. She'd made it out of that god-forsaken grave, alive. Her watery eyes sought out the white wolf as she rose on shaky limbs and lurched towards him. She couldn't contain herself, and covered the stranger's face with thankful kisses.