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 Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 10:38 pm
The herd was as complacent as Dubhe had hoped they would be; they moved away but did not panic, did not stampede. They moved instead with an easy, resigned pace, almost as though they had expected to lose a member, and as the frightened doe peeled away in the opposite direction Dubhe followed and felt a distant surge of relief. He would have felt terribly foolish if his impulsiveness would damage the herd.
Dimly he was aware of Dia as she made her wide arc. She was looking to take over for him when he tired, he thought, and it was a good strategy. They did work as a team very well after all of the training they had done. Together, he was pretty confident that the two of them could do anything.
But inside was a niggling, dangerous little thought. The competitive proud streak in his heart had sunken in its little claws. Because he didn't want Dia to take the kill. He wanted this all for himself, no matter how stupid that was.
Making a split-second decision before he really realized he'd done it, he put on the speed and threw himself at the doe, diving under to disable her hamstring.
But the doe was young and strong, and she swerved; rather than slipping neatly under her, he came in at an angle, missing his mark. A sharp hoof rose and caught him in the chin, knocking him askew. He yet out a weak "woof!" of surprise and lost his footing, tumbling to the ground. The doe, still blind in her panic, kicked him again as she cleared him. One hoof hit his shoulder, and he heard a muted crunch as though it had come from someone else's body. His vision swam and pain burst through his body like a swarm of angry bees, and his senses shut off entirely for a moment as his consciousness faded.
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Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2011 3:17 pm
Her first thought was 'that idiot!' her second was 'Kalain help him!' In a fraction of a second her brother's youthful bravado had become folly and she was racing to his side, stealth abandoned, eyes wide with horror. She was sure she was going to find him dead, that she'd have to tell her parents, her grandmother that Dubhe was with Jaitain and that it was because of some stupid prideful competition.
"Dubhe!" she shouted as she came up beside him, her eyes searching him for signs of life, for where he had been injured. "Oh Dubhe..." her voice was shaky, tears welling, jaw tight from clenching it. There, on his face, and his side, his shoulder. That didn't look right but oh thank the gods he was breathing!
But... what should she do? She couldn't leave him... but if she stayed here she couldn't get help. She didn't know what to do, she wasn't an acolyte, she had never cared about the healing sort off stuff, had figured it was practically useless until now...
Looking up, her yellow eyes scanned the horizon looking for the one person she had always hoped wasn't there. Her sister had been prone to following her, had always shadowed her. It had been part of the reason they'd fallen out, part of the reason she had been going to go north. Dia wasn't there this, time. Why had she picked this time not to follow?
"Dubhe!" she whined "Dubhe you need to get up..."
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Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2011 5:43 pm
Consciousness came back piecemeal. He was really only out for a few seconds, but he lay dazed on his side, confused and disoriented and wondering why his leg was being eaten alive by fire ants.
His hearing came back first and he heard his sister yelling at him as though he were underwater and he struggled to get an idea of what she was saying. Was she crying? Were those tears in her voice?
Oh...that wasn't good. This must be serious if she was crying.
The hoof had left a firm imprint on his jaw but had not broken it -- that much was a blessing. It was swelling steadily, heavily bruised, but he managed to grunt out an indecipherable mutter around it. One of his teeth was chipped. His tongue lolled over it and he felt the jagged, raw tip of it.
His shoulder, however, had not fared so well. The leg was clearly broken and it hung at an awkward, useless angle apart from his body. He tried to flex his toes and he was able to -- barely -- but the pain made him cry out.
"I'm okay," he managed, thickly, around his swollen jaw. He willed his eyes open, and he peered up at her with one unfocused slitted eye. "Did you get it?" He asked, then, because for some reason that seemed important. "The deer? Did you get her?"
He felt so stupid, suddenly. The ants in his leg seemed to have made their way into his head.
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Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2011 6:25 am
"You.. you idiot!" was all she could splutter for a moment, a few half-terrified, half grateful tears dripping down her muzzle. Gods damn him, he could be a pain but he was her brother and if he'd died...
"You're lying there in that state and all you're thinking of is dinner?" she half joked, her voice catching. "I need to go get help... will you be ok here on your own?" she was happier to go if he was awake, knowing he wouldn't be inadvertently trampled or worse. The more she looked the more queasy it made her. Sure, she'd seen innards and stuff before and it wasn't uncommon to see a deer's leg break when they chased it down but on a wolf it looked almost... perverse. Sickening.
She really didn't want to leave him but she knew for sure, now, that she could do nothing on her own to help him. There was no way he was walking anywhere soon on that leg.
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Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2011 12:41 pm
He struggled to get up and a searing pain spread through him and he nearly blacked out again. He fell back with a whimper and tears sprang up in his eyes and all he could think is I will not cry like a baby, not in front of my sister.
The tears in her own eyes still made him nervous.
"...Yeah...I'm fine," he repeated, even though it was extremely clear now that he was not fine. He gritted his teeth and gave standing up one more valiant effort, then sprawled out on his side, panting. His head ached terribly and his jaw was starting to feel wired shut. "Go get help."
He was going to be in SO much trouble.
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