Dead Empress Backwater chamomile

April 27th Katna is now showing signs of infection, her symptoms will be vomiting, dangerously high fever, uncontrollable chills/shivering.
just a heads up that this post contains all of that so, if sickness isn't your jam, read at your own discretion!

The eldest Valle had fallen ill.

It had started slow, crept in like a stranger stealing from a cache. Left behind a fever to start with. One that seemed to skyrocket even if she felt chilled. Enough to shiver in her own coat despite the fact that spring temperatures seemed to rise steadily.

Naturally she had taken initiative to quarantine herself. Not that she was entirely aware that she had perhaps done what was best for others, but this was about her. She could not be seen like this. It would ruin her reputation. She would be dethroned and they would all fall weak. Her empire lost to illness.

All of this thought of while she laid nestled at the base of a sycamore tree. Shivering in a way that nearly chattered her stained teeth. Nearly, because her final symptom to herald the arrival of her sickness had finally shown. She stood perhaps as fast as she ever had in the last few years.

Then opened her jaws.

Within a moment, there was an awful hacking sound and the garbled contents of the last meal she had managed to eat met the ground in a splat. She couldn't even make it out as she stared at the pile. All she felt was deep rooted shame.

katna is showing signs of mental decline
as such, she might be unreliable or confused

Viorel had woken up today and had at last felt halfway normal. He still wasn’t well, not by a long shot. But, his fever was broken, and his stomach actually felt settled, he was starving and dehydrated, but the nausea had faded overnight. Gulping down water way too quickly he had to slow down when his belly lurched uncomfortably from being filled so quickly. Breathing in and out through his nose for a minute or two before the wave washed over him and then left and the man slowly lapped down a few more sips of water.

It had been days since Viorel had sought anyone else, and guilt crept up on him. He felt like a failure as a leader, that he had spent the last few days holed up and ill instead of taking care of his pack and the women who carried his children. Determined that no matter how crappy he felt today he was going to get back at it, he followed the closest scent trail, his grandmother’s.

He regretted this decision immediately as soon as he saw her in the distance tossing her cookies. His own stomach gurgled unhappily at the sight and Viorel’s first instinct was that he should turn around lest he end up the same way. But, he ignored this as concern set in. He had felt bad enough that he thought he was going to die, there was no way that he was leaving his ailing grandmother alone with it. Approaching slowly he did his best to keep the disgust from his muzzle, ”Grandma? Are you ill?” He expected her to lie, she was a proud woman and being sick as a wolf was a sign of vulnerability. But the truth was as clear as the puddle of vomit in the grass.

She felt as though she was submerged beneath the sea. Underwater in a groggy world that was not this one. An ocean full of shame, embarrassment and concern.

For a moment she felt her age and she felt it clearly.

Then it was gone with the young voice that called out to her. "No." She sent back firmly. A few kicks of her paws at the mushy, cold land as if that might cover up what he had likely already seen.

"I...I need Venkat. Get him at once." Weaker than her former spoken word as she slumped into a seated position.

When she turned to look upon the dark boy, it would be with little familiarity in her gaze and every old sign in her body apparent even at a glance.

katna is showing signs of mental decline
as such, she might be unreliable or confused

Tagging @Vayko to come pretend to be Venkat

As expected, the answer he had gotten back from his grandmother was a firm no which was clearly a lie. He respectfully averted his eyes as she attempted to cover the puddle of sick. He knew how she felt, not wanting to let anyone in on that vulnerability, but he couldn’t just leave her here all alone. Maybe he could call on Clover? Vanadis herself was ill and couldn’t be much help right now, or maybe he could find some more of those flowers his girlfriend had fed him.

Frozen for a moment, trying to decide the best course of action when she gave him an order. He was relieved to have something constructive to do, but unfortunately it was not an order that he could easily fulfil. Venkat was not here. In fact, Venkat could still be living his best life on the coast for all Viorel knew. Given the confusion in his grandmother’s eyes and the lack of understanding, he thought he might be able to trick her if he had a convincing enough replacement, but who?

The only tawny wolves currently in their pack were Sharlee and Vayko, and while Sharlee probably looked more like his great uncle, she was clearly female. ”Okay, I’ll bring Venkat grandma.” Then paced away until he was just out of eyesite. Lifting his muzzle he tried to call discretely for Vayko, and now all he could do was wait, and hope his cousin’s acting chops were up to parr.

what i really need now is a double shot of crown

While no longer sick with that blasted disease, Vayko did not feel wonderful by any means. His paw was still broken, and he was nursing it to health. He was capable of limping small distances, but he had been urged to not put weight on it whenever possible. Still, when duties called. He was still a leader of the Backwater. He heard his cousin call for him and he sighed, clearly dreading whatever conversation was about to be had. Had one of the floozies popped? Were they about to find out how fucked they were?

He slowly got up, doing his best to hop on his one good front paw and his backs in order to make his way without putting weight on it. He waited until he was in eyesight of his cousin before sitting down, keeping his paw off the ground. “If you want to talk to me you’re going to have to come over here.” He insisted with a soft huff, catching his breath because it was surprisingly exhausting to walk like that. “I’m still quite challenged in regards to mobility.”

"Very well," She offered curtly before he departed. While he went off to do her beckoning, she worked on covering up her disgrace. Dug, kicked up and shuffled all of the wet ground and dead plants she could over it.

No one needed to know, no one needed to see.

Then she moved on to carefully plucking up any grass she could find and eating it. As if that might do her well or mask the acidic stench that lingered on her already elderly breath. She could only hope her brother was already nearby and that she would not have to stand here like a fool forever.

katna is showing signs of mental decline
as such, she might be unreliable or confused

Tasha feel free to pp Viorel going along with Vayko back to Katna/helping him along if he needs it!

When Vayko eventually made his way onto the scene Viorel’s ear flipped backwards guiltily. In all his concern over his grandmother the Valle had forgotten that while his cousin had gotten over his own sickness, he still had his paw injury. Maybe he should have called for Sharlee instead, but would that have been good enough to trick Katna? Moving forward easily as the tawny man sat, Viorel grimaced apologetically at the sight of his cousin’s mangled paw. These blasted woods might be cursed afterall.

Glancing back towards the way that he came Viorel did his best to speak quietly, ”Grandma is sick now, and she doesn’t look very good.” That alone he knew would be enough to alert his co-lead, she wasn’t well at the best of times and they both knew how terrible the turtle disease had been. Looking back to see Vayko he continued, ”And the only wolf who she says can help her is Venkat…. So, how are your acting skills?” The salt and pepper wolf knew that he had done it enough recently, but he wasn’t sure his blunt family member was used to pretending.

Standing up now Viorel looked at his cousin pleadingly, they just needed to get her checked out, appease her until Clover could come in to check her out.

what i really need now is a double shot of crown

He saw the apologetic grimace and carried an indecernable expression on his features. He just wanted to do whatever it was he was called here to do so he could lay down again, maybe stop by the stream on the way back for water since he was already up. His eyes widened as Vi admitted that their grandmother had fallen ill. “What if I catch it again? Vi, you know what it did to me the first time!” Clearly it was capable of spreading from wolf to wolf because Vana and his grandmother and Vi had all caught it. He would do it, because Katna was his grandma and a Valle, but he certainly would not be happy about it.

“I think I impersonated him enough as a kid to manage.” Because it had been a hobby of his to pick on his poor great uncle. “And I’m already grumpy enough to play the part.” He wrinkled his nose lightly at that with a sigh. “Let’s get this over with.” He sighed out again before moving over to the den with a slight limp. Venkat. He needed to channel Venkat. He remained silent as he entered the den, sitting there quietly as he peered at his grandmother. Surely he could still do a half-decent job in his state? Would it particularly matter or would his grandmother assume it was Venkat because she was crazier than a hornet’s nest?

“You were calling for me, dear sister?” Pretending nothing was amiss was what Venkat was good at, so he simply pretended to not notice a lot of things, like her insanity or the fact that she was ill with the very disease that had wiped through him a week prior. He could sense Vi lingering but said nothing for now. The things he did for family.

Dutiful to her beck and call as ever, her dear brother arrived swiftly.

Even if he hadn't, she wouldn't notice. Too caught up in her task of covering her diseased tracks.

Regardless she found the barest sliver of comfort in his voice. A distraction from the illness that wracked her and the acidic burn in her throat. "I need your discretion, Venkat." She informed as she slumped into a seated position, and even that looked mildly unstable as she shivered or swayed every now and then. Unaware of how her every move betrayed herself.

"Something is...wrong." Grim in tone as she looked to him through hazy eyes.

katna is showing signs of mental decline
as such, she might be unreliable or confused

consider this Viorel's informal exit! I won't post him again unless he's directly interacted with

Flinching at his cousin’s words, Viorel realized that he had not even thought about the possibility you could get the sickness more than once. What if Vayko caught it again, what if he caught it again and it spread back to one of the pregnant women? There were a lot of risks, but they couldn’t leave the aging, ailing woman alone to suffer. He was happy that despite there being cons that Vayko was willing enough to help and act along with the lie.

Smiling thankfully, Viorel watched his cousin limp towards the den and call out, and once his grandmother returned in a friendly manner his worries were slightly soothed. Knowing that his appearance was not going to help anything in the situation, the leader walked a few paces away and settled into a lounging position. He was there if Vayko or his grandmother needed him, and he would wait to help his cousin back to where he had come from with his bum paw. Other than that, he would take a back seat.