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Ember just stood back and watched as everything went on, she couldn't do anything at the moment. There were already two on top of Bullet and they would be enough to hold her down, now all they needed was for Kuro to do what he needed to do with the water. Ember felt completely useless at that point, all her powers could do was cause destruction, and that was something no one wanted. Ember took in a deep breath to calm herself down, she was just glad that no one else was attacking them at the moment while this was happening.

Frost felt...something, as light suddenly blazed from the wolf helping her pin the struggling Red-Fur beneath her. Her mind was suddenly gone, back to nights observing thousands of pinpoints of light on the night sky as the white land stretched as far as the eye could see around them; her mother beside her speaking softly, weak- What had she said? The little puppy she had suddenly been re-transported to tried to recall, but the vaguely familiar words were distorted, lost to static. Already the memory was fading away, but something had changed, some strange pulse within her stirring...

Her attention suddenly snapped back to the situation at hand, feeling slightly bewildered, she noted that Red-Fur had ceased to struggle, the shadows returned to their rightful places. Tentatively, little by little Frost lifted her weight before stepping away completely, chain still pulled tight. The strange stirring within her had faded some, but still remained making her feel uneasy.

She turned her attention back to Kuro. "Carry. We go, water." she said wearily. Her vision seemed oddly brighter and fuzzy to her as her limbs trembled and a current of unknown energy pulsed through her nerves; grimacing, she shook her head fiercely and the strange fog seemed to clear. That was something of concern but just like everything that had happened, there would have to be time for it later.

Something was not right. Frost laid a ear against the females chest and sniffed her face a moment, feeling a growing alarm. Her heart-rate was erratic, beginning to sink below normal, even under the influence of the Altered's toxic blood. She clicked another notch on the hilt of the dagger and a tiny faint flicker bean of bright light shone from a LED hidden just below the blade; she shone it into the teal eyes and her fear was confirmed when the pupils remained dilated even under the onslaught of the bright light. Red-Fur was going into a severe shock, her mental and physical aspects weakened from the previous starvation and the recent catastrophic events. Death was no longer just a vague maybe on the horizon, but ever so much closer then before.

"Need move, now! Water, food, shady place." Frostridge barked with a authoritative order she did not entirely feel and still muffled by the dagger in her jaws; her biotics flared to life, tracing strange glowing patterns beneath her skin and making her eyes glow faintly with teal-blue, white light as glimpsed before as she carefully, but effortlessly hauled the limp female onto her back by creeping beneath her and shifting the load across. Her self consciousness about her abilities in front of the others was gone, only the desperate desire to preserve one of the few members of her race's life.

"We go lake, shaded rocks, tall white trees.Val-luh-ey." Frost began to set off in the direction where they had come to retrace ehr steps to the narrow entrance in the sheer rock walls, desperate to get her some much needed water and shelter from the blazing sun.

Frostridge was no full-trained doctor but her skills as a medic were still at hand. She felt a slight gratitude toward her human Jane for all she had taught finally coming to use; and a pang of pain at the realization she was no longer... Focus! her mind snarled at herself. Unable to break into a full-run she set off at a brisk trot, praying the others would understand.

Frost was already back amongst the tall spires of stone, the narrow gulleys of rock washed away by the long-gone water seeming to fence her in on every side. She shifted her shoulders to better keep the female perched upon her back, focus entirely on reaching the lake. Whether the others were following her she was unaware; her mind had become simplistic, leaving no room for doubt or complications as if once more she was on a human-assigned mission. At this moment, nothing else mattered then to preserve the life slipping away from Red-Fur.

Though panic was scratching at the walls of her mind like a terrified beast, the cool, formulaic track of her mind remained undisturbed like a computer nexus. She had made good time; the secret tunnel in the sheer rock walls was near.

It proved difficult but she wedged herself through, shimmying on her belly to allow the access of both through. A sharp rock nicked her side painfully, but she ignored it finally breaking out into the other side.

Once again the patches ofcool tall grass and white-barked trees with their tiny shriveled grey-green buds greeted her but she had no time to admire them; her eyes were only on the huge lake, and a large outcropping of rocks on its shore curved like a giant human hand, the fingers curled slightly.

Once last push; her body was growing tired with the added weight and use of biotics. She set off at a light run, trying her best not to jostle the unconcious female. The smell of fresh water was overhwleming as she lost sight of the lake for a minute amongst the trees and sloping hills, yet she raced toward it.

"Hold on." Frost begged quietly, her voice almost desperate. She crested the final hill and the glimmering silver water spread like a platter before her.

She trotted down toward where the large rock towerd overhead and took shelter in its outcropping, the shadows and cold water lapping against the white sand under her feet feeling delicious cool.

Reaching the water's edge, she shifted her burden gently off her back, loosing the chains from Red-Fur's legs and mouth and resheathing her blade. Then she nudged the wolf's snout towards the water, feeling helpless in her ability to do more... She set an ear against the afflicted's chest, feeling the heartbeat still erratic and uneven.

Where were the others? she wondered suddenly. She had been so focused on her task, that she seemed to have left them behind. Cursing her lack of attention and allowing herself to zone-in on a single focus, she glanced at her surroundings.

Further down on the opposite side of the lake, a small group of Tree-Heads (as she had come to call them) were lapping at the waves. She felt a wave of the old fear, but reminded herself of how her team had taken one done with such efficeincy. They were not the predators, she had to remind herself. A bird or two were chirping among the trees, the gentle whisper of long grass gave a sensation of peace she did not feel.

There seemed to be nothing more to do at the moment but to wait and watch, and hope the others would come soon...

She was suddenly aware of how quiet it had become. Glancing back over the lake from the cool shadows of the rock, she saw that the tree-heads had vanished, even the birds had stopped singing. Feeling a wave of apprehension, she got to her feet, training her senses back on the woods they had just come from. Only the quiet whisper of grass...

She heard a splash of water behind her and in the fraction of a second, pain exploded in her shoulder as what looked like a barbed spear head pierced through her flesh; as suddenly as the attack had come she was suddenly dragged underwater, her suprised instinct to fill her lungs desperately seeking air only to be choked by churned water. At the first sign of a sound, she had begun to turn around and drawn her blade even in the starte of sheer gibbering terror her mind was suddenly thrown in, she was thinking.

Through the shallow water and churned sand, she caught a flash of mutated scales, and a toothy jaws with glimmering yellow eyes. The "spearhead" was indeed essentially a giant fang, the edges barbed to insure that it stayed locked in it target to be drawn back toward the Altered by the long stringy tendon like flesh attached from the hook to a sort of protruding space above one of its front fins.

Get your feet back under you! Its not deep! her mind ordered. Already it was attempting to drag her deeper into the depths. If it got her to where she couldn't get back to shore, she would be finished; the pain, and the sheer strength of the creature were quickly overpowering her oxygen deprived body as she fought for footing in the slipping sand. She was fighting a losing battle, with one last card to play...

The water suddenly was ablaze with light as she went into Overcharge, the suddenly relesaing of the floodgates of energy sending a pulse of light that made the water seemed to erupt to the surface like an explosion. The strange criss-crossed markings below her skin shone brightly, burning like stars; her eyes were two tealy-blue white spheres of light. She felt no pain, no fear. She felt nothing at all, lost in the surge of power flooding through her veins. Everything seemed to clear, to sharp, the pain more like a mere reminder then screaming agony.

She was about to slice off the offending tentacle, but common sense, almost bored told her not too. The blood would only fill the water and she would potentially be swimming in contamination. She would be trading death for death, if not something worse.She resheathed her blade, an alternate plan in forefront of her mind.

Her teeth sank deep into the tentacle as she began to pull back towards the shore with growing strength, the creature fighting her every step in renewed effort as if suprised at the sudden turning of tables. Her head broke water and she inhaled deeply through her nose, slipped, and went under once more before finding her footing. The world underwater was a strange muffled, silence as tiny white grains of sand flurried amongt the redness of the blood staining the water, glimmering by the light from her own body half blinding her.

In this tug of war of life and death, she did not realize when she was back on shore, slowly dragging her attempted hunter further onto the beach. Blood streamed from her damaged shoulder, the hook still sunk deep within. The creature was now thrashing about in the shallows, too far out of its native element to try to pull her back in, much less escape. Almost contemptuously, she dragged it back away from the shore towards the grass as it made strange gasping screeches and flopped about vigorously, yanking it hard and slamming it into the ground like a fisherman with his catch. It was nearly half as large as her, though it seemed much larger and terrifying underwater. She did not know what type of Altered it was nor did she care. With the contempt of an empress she gazed down on it, crushing a powered foreleg through it's head like an eggshell, brutally, without hesitance. Scornfully she ripped through the tentacle still attached to her with a sharp twist of her jaws.There was no feeling, only the cool mindless efficiency of a killer...

Her legs suddenly buckled as a pain screeched through her limbs, her shoulder was ablaze. She shut down her Overcharge, leaving her feeling vulnerable as the after-effects of the strain made her mind go white with agony. The smell of her blood and the Altered's overwhelmed her nose. She got to her feet after a few tries and managed to stagger away before sitting down, feeling the sensations subside. Too careless. Too careless. She could feel the edge of shock and simply reaching her limit once more taking its toll as she took quiet calming breaths. The transition from her former personality to her more recent one made her want to cry as she had seen the humans do, as she had seen her mother do, but she did not know how to. Soldier, Tools, Machines- They did not cry. Instead she merely sat with her head drooped and closed her eyes, counting each precious breath occasionally coughing water. Counting each painful throb of her shoulder, still with barbed fang embedded-

Red-Fur.

Her eyes shot open and carefully she got up. If she had been somehow harmed on her watch- Frost did not think she could forgive herself for failing again. But no, A patch of red-fur still lay oblivious to all the drama that had happened. Frost staggered over half expecting to find her dead, but was greeted by the gentle rise and fall of her chest. Weary and satisifed she sat beside her, her vision spotting as she sunk heavier and heavier on her forepaws, a strange weariness as before over-riding her senses. Her mind was blank, too tired for thinking. She merely waited, though for what, she was not sure.

A rustle behind Frost made her glance around; with blurry vision, Frost blinked at the newly arrived wolf, her words soft and shallow.

A wince of her muscle in having to turn made her gaze drift down to where the fang was still lodged in her shoulder. Hesitantly she tried to wrap her jaws around it to pull it out, but the angle was awkward and the slight jostle sent a surge of white hot agony through her rather numb body.

"You...please, pull...out" she whispered to the Blooded One. Enemy or not, if she had wanted to kill them there was no better opportunity then now; she would just have to trust her. There was a very decent chance that the fang had venom within it and the longer it stayed lodged in her flesh, the longer it would be allowed to flow through her bloodstream. While her biotics offered some filtering for most venom or other toxins, it would easily be overrun if the source continued to pump its deadly flow into her.

She glanced over at where Red-Fur lay, still resting peacefully. The water was now nearly fully settled once more, though a rivulet of red was beginning to stain the white sand and where it drained down to the water's edge. It was the same leg she had been slashed on she noted absently to herself. Talk about ill luck...

Frost ridge gave snarl of agony as the fang was ripped from her flesh, causing a new gush of blood to well forth from the wound.

The Blooded One seemed to be urging her near the water; Frost's ears went flat against her head, a growl in her voice. The water had proven to carry fierce enemies; trying to understand her words with her throbbing head was frustrating. Suspicion was once again rampant through her brain and exhausted body. Part of her just wanted to attack-

Her mind turned back to Jane, of when as a young puppy how she had sunk her fangs deep into that hand that was only offering food...

Trusting lead to bad outcomes. But if she had never finally tried to trust she would never had met Jane, or her team-

Cautiously she tottered a few steps closer, still glaring in suspicion.

Frost had never been so tense in her life as she watched the blood ripple from her fur and towards her. Her whole body went tense and she snarled a warning. But the female wolf's eyes and demeanor and voice betrayed no aggression, though Frost was well aware it could all be an act.

This was the moment of truth.

She struggled to understand her words, not entirely sure of her meaning. There was a long moment as the gears turned in her head, before she drew her dagger slowly, though her own blue eyes markedly less aggressive and apprehensive. "....You...do. But, if try bad, I kill." she stated it slowly, making sure that she would accept the Blooded One's help but if Frost felt she was doing something potentially threatening, then she would not hesitate.

If there was something to be said, a kind of hidden talent for herself was Frost's ability to focus and in turn, heighten her reaction speed. She was taking a chance and she knew it, but at the very least she might be able to stop something before it started. She tried to comfort herself with that knowledge, though she knew better then to underestimate the wolf before her and over estimate her own skills. She certainly felt very vulnerable, for sure.