Gypsy Arrow x TipToe, A Rescue Mission

[Krissie]

Krissie

Gypsy Arrow

His paws hurt. His head hurt. His tail hurt. And his stomach hurt.

And he was COLD. And he was tired.

He shivered violently as the bitter wind whipped at him on the mountain side while he picked his way carefully down the cliffs. He stumbled as pebbles fell out from underneath his feet, toppling a short ways down a slope only to land back first on a rock. He yelped and cried in pain as he slumped over onto his side. He hadn’t broken anything but the wind had gotten knocked out of him and he was in a great deal of pain.

He broke down then and started to cry, “Momma…!” She had sent him ahead with a warning, say low and stay silent. She’d be right behind him she said. She was going to lure the scary things away that were chasing them. Up, through, and down to Kells she said. They’d be safe there. But that had been days ago and he didn’t know the way back to where he had started.

“Mommaaaa!” He cried again as he pushed himself up onto his paws only to huddle in. “MOMMMMAAAAAAA!!!” His voice was faint, carried into nothing by the sharp, biting wind of the mountain. He was so scared now and he hurt so bad. “MOMMMAAAAAAAA!”

His body was racked with shivers once more and he tried to shuffle behind a rock away from the wind. He could see the green expanse below him but it was so far down, he didn’t know if he could do it on his own.

“Momaaa!”, he cried again. He missed her terribly. She had promised him but she wasn’t here.

 

[ChexaRain]

Tiptoe had been wandering for a long time, it felt. She ate when she could, slept when it was safe, and overall managed to slip past a massacre mere days ago undetected.
It was a dangerous world to be alone in, but she'd lost touch with her family and would find them, come hell or high water.

She found herself now scouring the mountain for cave dwellings, a foolish and rather lonesome effort but she kept the green well within her sight at all times to make her way back down the jagged rocks. A mountain home, she reminded herself, would only be temporary until she could find a proper pack. It was far too dangerous for a permanent solution, with the blistering weather that penetrated even her thick coat of fur.

A scent carried over the cold wind, just a whisper against her nose, and Tiptoe was on full alert in a second. All the way up here? She glanced around, cautious, reminding herself of how far below the green earth was should she need a direction to run in.

She sniffed again, finding nothing, and wondering if perhaps she'd been up here too long and was losing her senses to the cold.

Then she heard it. It was so faint, the smallest of voices up in these cold mountains, and instinct won against her fear. This was a pup out here. Putting her nose to the ground, she bolted in all directions, stopping once every few feet to shoot up and listen for any sounds, ears rotating for any possibility. "No way, no way, not up here, please, not up here...."

His little cry was weaker, but he was much closer, and she spurred herself on, in the direction it was coming from.

She'd expected to find nothing at all. When her eyes fell on the tiny pup with a coat similar to her own, she whined.

"No, nonono oh no poor baby!" She cooed gently, quickly blocking him from the worst of the elements using the rock as a secondary barrier and giving him a once over for injuries, her mismatched eyes going over every inch of him that was visible without touching him, though she pushed her limits by being close enough for her body heat to reach him.

"Why are you all the way up here, little one?" She asked, fighting the urge to just grip him up and drag him down to safety. If he was injured, she wouldn't risk gripping him up without a warning first.

Krissie

 

[Krissie]

Gypsy Arrow had kept crying, eventually resorting to little desperate, stuttering howls that only a pup could manage. His mother had told him to stay quiet but he couldn't anymore. He was too cold and hungry for that now.

His eyes were squeezed shut against the cold and light. He didn't see or really hear Tiptoe approach but only felt the warmth of her closeness when she did. "Momma!" His voice was so little and weak, but the relief in his voice was immediate and he immediately scrambled underneath her to burrow into her.

"Told me... told me to keep going..." He hiccup as he shivered violently again. His sense of smell was shot since his nose had gone raw from the constant wind and cold.  

[ChexaRain]

She didn't move when he suddenly burrowed against her, too shocked by the sudden intrusion of his cold little body to protest. Listening to him, her eyes softened and she took another glance around, just to make sure she wasn't missing any other wolves in the snow.

"You're all alone up here?" She bent to his level to speak, not wanting to scream at him over the wind as she assessed what she could do. He didn't seem hurt, not with how quickly he was willing to tuck himself under her, and she hadn't seen any injuries on him.

She steeled her resolve. Looking off in the direction they had to go, she made sure to speak clearly, "We'll have to go down to get out of the cold, and it'll be faster if I carry you. Are you okay with that?"

Introductions could come after she kept him alive, though she was sure she'd heard him call her Momma. Oh boy.

Krissie

 

[Krissie]

There would be plenty of injuries to find later on with the blisters and sores on his paws, nose, and eyes from the wind and stone. Never mind the bruises from the fall he took. There was even frostbite nipping at his ears and he hadn't eaten in a week. The weather thankfully hadn't been too terrible for early spring, or he likely wouldn't have made it this far to start with.

Gypsy nodded wearily against Tiptoe's belly with no energy or will to question why his Momma was asking him questions like that. He was just so relieved that she'd found him like she said she would and he'd do anything she asked of him.

His little body shook harder, sensing the warmth of another and trying desperately to generate more itself. The pup hiccuped again with enough force to knock him over. He certainly wasn't going to be walking down the mountain with her.

ChexaRain

 

[ChexaRain]

The small movement of his affirmation was all she needed, the pads of her feet getting colder by the second and she could only imagine how he was feeling. He was up here who knows how long, and it was time to go.

She reached down gingerly, giving him a moment to suck up as much heat as he could before grabbing him by the scruff, the weight of him breaking her heart. He wasn't as heavy as he should be.

Moving quickly, she took off with all the strength she could muster while watching out for loose ground, the cold causing her to stumble a time or two before she properly got her footing. She only hoped her panting breath would be enough to keep him warm long enough to get them out of the worst of it.

The sight of the green below seemed further than ever in times of crisis, she mused to herself silently, though she couldn't picture him making this climb alone, for who knows what reason he might give.

A mantra repeated to herself: hold on, keep breathing, stay warm enough, don't let me be too late.

Krissie

 

[Krissie]

Gypsy balled up as tight as he could manage as Tiptoe picked him up by his scruff. He whined as he was suddenly exposed back to the cold, but the warm breath down his back helped keep him calm.

His stomach practically roared though from the realization that food was likely coming very soon. His entire body curled at the force of his belly cramping and he whined in pain.

"Momma... I'm hungry..." He'd expended most of his energy crying into the wind and it was obvious from how faint his voice was.

ChexaRain

 

[ChexaRain]

Tiptoe frowned, he was calling her momma. She hastened in her step the minute her paws hit more secure terrain, the cold clinging desperately to her coat as they came closer to the base of the mountain.

With her teeth clenched as firmly as they were around his scruff, she made an effort to respond, "Soon, little one, food's coming soon."

She knew she should be correcting him, but she didn't have the heart to do it. Not with his current state being as oppressive as it was.
With each thud of her pounding paws against the earth, his weight felt like lead in her chest. She would feed him as soon as he was warm enough to process it, as slow and painful as it was.

Krissie

 

[Krissie]

He had fallen quiet on the trip down the mountain side. He was barely awake but the cold and hunger kept him from completely passing out... never mind the spasm like shivering his little body was going through.

He cracked his eyes open just enough to peer around what was in front of him. That act was enough to have them start watering. He tried to whine and rub his face but what came out was a slight wheeze and a pitiful little flail.

That was that was left in him at that point and just went as limp as the shivering would let him in Tiptoe's grasp. He desperately need shelter soon.

ChexaRain

 

[ChexaRain]

The minute his little body went limp, all rational thought went out the window. IF Tiptoe thought shed been running fast before, she was panicked and racing like a demon was on her tail now, to the point she'd not even realized the rocks at her feet had started spreading out into dirt, the cliff sides she'd been used to seeing in snow starting to melt away into pure rock.
It wasn't until she was racing past softer terrain that she finally slowed and took in her surroundings, eyes growing wide at the sight of a tree line.

"Almost kiddo, just a bit further." She murmured, not sure if he was even alert at this point and running on pure adrenaline. Her gaze zipped around and fell on a small creature darting from one beaten shrub to another, and she formed an idea.

Looking for a sunny patch of dirt, she placed the pup gingerly in the softer grass, making sure he was well within the suns' rays and quickly zipping off to catch the small creature, taking as little time as possible to snatch it up for her ward.

It wasn't until she was walking back to him that her own frailty kicked in, and she stumbled quickly to his side and nearly collapsed, the tiny morsel she'd caught clenched in her teeth dropped just in front of him and she sprawled out in the sun right next to him, taking deep breaths and panting heavily. She felt like an Alpha, and pride had her tail wagging limply against the dirt. Feeling the tiny body against her side, she nudged him gently after dragging herself upright, checking to see he was breathing and making sure her offering was well within his feeble reach.

Krissie

 

[Krissie]

He didn't have the energy to move where Tiptoe had set him down, but there was the flash of terror as she left him on the patch of grass. But the warmth of the sun here was a far cry different from the harsh, but ineffective rays higher up the mountain. His shivering eased a bit as his coat soaked up the heat. If one didn't know better, it was possible to think he was dead from how shallow his breath was and how still he seemed to be.

When Tiptoe returned, relief flooded back into him and wheezed again, clearly trying to make a sound but not having much luck getting anything stronger than a puff of hair past his vocal chords. Laying next to him and finally able to look him over, the sores and blisters were easy to spot and how the skin around his eyes was irritated from the windburn. Nothing was actively bleeding at the moment, thankfully.

It seemed to be forever before he had it in him to move his head and push his nose into the offering in front of him. The smell sent his belly cramping again and he curled from the force of it. The sound that came out of him was pained and not something that really should come out of a pup's muzzle... but... He was alive, and would remain so thanks to Tiptoe.

There wasn't much success with the food at the moment but as soon as the hard gasps evened out, it became clear that the little pup had simply passed out. The warmth and the feeling of safety, coupled with the exhaustion from his ordeal was enough to topple him into unconsciousness. He could eat after a nap....

ChexaRain

 

[ChexaRain]

Absentmindedly, Tiptoe started grooming the pup, every little injury she came across digging just a little deeper at rubbing her the wrong way. His mother had desperately chased him up the mountain for who knew what reason, and he was suffering greatly for it.

She sighed, eyeing the food he was rejecting and curled herself around him protectively, the warm sun cementing just how bone tired the whole experience had made not just her, but the tiny pup at her side.

As tired as she was, she feared falling asleep. He was so insistent on calling her his mother, but she knew the minute he was rested and opened his eyes, he'd be terrified all over again.
Despite her best efforts, however, her eyes closed of their own accord, and it wasn't long before she was falling asleep too, the warmth winning against the cold of the mountain.

Krissie

Le end~