Mel the badger gently felt his friend’s forehead, frowning in concern. Lae’s ruby gaze, though glazed over and still oozing from the strange disease that infected many wolves, looked up at her newfound companion with little emotion. The ruby-clawed badger had been kind, proper, and cordial to her since the first time they met, by the waterfall. He even dragged her back to the castle with her half-conscious directions, seeing as she was mysteriously paralyzed. Both of them were unaware of how or why she was unable to walk. And the oozing plague continued, its intensity upon her mental state had weakened, but not the glowing flow that dripped down her facial features. Not only that, but the toll of their arduous journey back and to the her bedroom on the third floor was immense. Her body was abnormally warm to the touch - Mel felt her head and stepped back, his brown eyes shining with concern. "Lady Laeta, I fear this ailment has weakened you considerably," He said, his tone quivering, "I must fetch you a physician, if your pack has one on its premises." Lae sighed. What else was new? She met her dead mother in a strange, coma-like dream, fully convinced it was real, and then awoke to be unable to move her legs, and a badger just magically appeared, ready to help. No, this felt like the dream. He practically worshipped her, like a queen if not a goddess. What did she do to deserve such respect and honor? Nothing, of course. She was useless. A burden. Her gunked eyes began to close. Not because she wanted to sleep - she slept most of the time since last night when they had returned to the castle, and back to her bedroom. The fact that this little badger was able to lift her up the staircase, and onto her bed was a fest beyond her comprehension. Still, she was tired. So tired. "I’ll be fine, Mel..please worry about yourself. " The badger’s eyes widened, as if she had uttered a curse word rather than a simple statement. "M-My lady, I cannot do that!" He stammered, shaking his head and adjusting his monocle, "You are gravely ill, and I simply cannot leave you to suffer in this state. No, I shall fetch someone to help you. It’s the least I can do, please," His last sentence ended with him staring at her with a pleading look. He frantically propped the pillows beneath her neck, head, hip and legs, fluffing them as she winced. He muttered several cluttered apologies in a row, bowing to her hopping off the bed via stepstool and rushing out her door. Perhaps, whoever this phyisican was would stumble upon the panicked badger, and come Laeta’s way. ooc; laeta has a neck injury due to the firefly man and is unable to move her legs. Unbeknownst to the healers, she will return to normal next ooc month, next season. she also has a fever. her badger friend can communicate with other wolves as he has with laeta. "Speech"

Syanna had been stretching herself thin working harder than ever before in her life to tend to all of the Hallowed wolves that had fallen ill with the bizarre diseases. She had her own mushroom infection, as did a couple of the other wolves in the castle, some with abnormal crystal growths sprouting from their bodies, and some leaking a concerning amount of glowing fluids while slipping into madness. Their own alpha had fallen victim to the latter, locking himself up in the dungeons until the symptoms began to lessen. Syanna felt virtually useless against the degradation of the pack's overall health. None of her research or experiments had yielded any results and she was no closer to finding a cure to all of this madness. She just wanted it to be over and everything to go back to normal. She was so tired of the sickness, tired of the pain, tired of the endless night. Tired of it all.

The orange and cream-furred fae wandered down the halls that were silent as a tomb, her claws clicking off the stone corridors that had once felt so warm and full of life. Now they only housed shadows and darkness. The sound of scurrying feet on the stone floors up ahead caught her attention, especially since they didn't sound like wolf paws. Raising a curious brow, Syanna advanced cautiously through the shadowy corridor, keeping her eyes peeled for whatever was making that noise. Were there threats lurking in the darkness of the castle now? Were they all in danger?

The answer turned out to be more innocuous than she suspected. From down the corridor came a small badger with striking ruby claws caught her attention. Immediately Syanna's guard lowered; he was no threat, just a lost little critter. "Oh, you startled me," Syanna said with a sigh, unsure if the creature had the capability of lupine speech or maybe she was just talking to herself in the dark. Maybe she was losing her mind too...

"Syanna Alluráin"

As her mate, Ezra may enter her threads not marked as Private.
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At the sound and sight of a wolf, the badger promptly trotted forward, adjusting his monocle to see her better. As soon as she mentioned that she was startled, Mel froze, stammering out, “I-I startled you, my lady? Oh goodness, p-please forgive me! Oh, that was not my intention, my lady, I assure you,“ He promptly bowed to her as if she was a king, er, queen, before rising and explaining the situation. “I-I do not wish to disturb you, but my wolf friend, the lady, Laeta-” He motioned his head towards the open doorway to her bedroom, “Well, the poor dear, she has taken a turn for the worst. That slime plague is afflicting her, a-and she has a fever..but that is not the worst of it, I fear…she needs a physician’s attendance as soon as possible.” He’d approached the physician closer and attempt to guide her into the bedroom with a polite but frantic - clearly worried for the woman - clawed paw to witness Lae herself. Lae heard the voices outside, but as she was paralyzed, she could barely move anthing except her neck and head. At least her vocal cords weren’t affected, as she could still speak. She laid on her side, pillows propped everywhere thanks to Mel’s efforts to keep her comfortable. They did a decent amount in ensuring she wouldn’t have pressure sores or something like it, but her joints - accustomed to movement and yet also worn from it too - were aching fiercly. If a pillow shifted, she’d feel a fiery hot flash of pain, mostly in her hips. It seemed that, although unable to move. She felt everything. Everything. If Syanna did follow the badger into the room, she’d likely notice the urgent case right away. The monochromatic woman’s legs were unnaturally still, not even a twitch. Same with her torso and tail. Only the region above the middle of her neck was able to move, but on her side, that was difficult to achieve. Her fever make it an even more arduous effort. She mustered a soft whine as her hips throbbed, prompting the badger to rush over and attempt to adjust her position. “Th-There, there, my lady, do not fret,” He murmurer, worriedly padding about her king-sized bed. "Speech"

The badger spoke, in perfect Lupine, apologizing to her for startling her. Syanna stared at the badger in shock, surprised by his formality and austere mannerisms. He kept referring to her as "lady", further bewildering the confused Syanna. She'd never been referred to as a lady before, least of all considering how she conducted herself. Syanna was absolutely in no way, shape, or form a "lady". But still the small prey animal apologized profusely to the point where she had to lift a paw to cut him off. "Uh, it's okay, little guy. I forgive you...?" Her words came out more like a question than a statement, still too confused by what was going on.

The badger went on to explain that his owner, Laeta, was falling into poorer health. That was all Syanna needed to hear to kick her back into business mode. Rich emerald eyes turned up to peer down the dark corridor the badger gestured down. She had seen the Hallows' newest member at the feast, but hadn't had much one-on-one time with her. She was also afflicted with this disease? "Go back to her. I'll be there as soon as I can." Syanna left the badger to rush downstairs to the pharmacy, gathering up the supplies she needed or thought she'd need in her satchel before heading back up to Laeta's room.

Pushing into the dark of Laeta's room, Syanna saw the sad sight the wolf was in. She looked feverish and disoriented, and when Syanna approached, Laeta only barely lifted her head. Her body appeared lethargic, and an excessive amount of bioluminescent ooze spilled from the woman's nose, ears, and eyes. "Hey, Laeta. I'm Syanna. I'm here to help," she introduced herself to her newest patient. Climbing up onto the plush king bed so she could more easily access her patient, Syanna unslung her satchel and began to pull out herbs and bottles from within. "Your friend said you're running a fever. Can you tell me what other symptoms you're experiencing?" Syanna pulled out a few swatches of clean cloth and placed them on the fae's paws so she could begin to clean herself up. "Here, to wipe your face." She waited for Laeta to clean her face of the glowing gunk and relay her symptoms so she knew how to begin treating her.

"Syanna Alluráin"

As her mate, Ezra may enter her threads not marked as Private.
____________________

Mel worridely ushered Syanna into the room, but relieved that he was here to assess his friend. He couldn’t do much at this point besides offer comforr and basic care, and he sat by her head as the physician hopper onto the bed and began her examination. The bioluminescent fluid leaked mercilessly from her eyes, nose, and ears, for certain — on occasion, the woman could only swallow when it collected inside her mas, a slight dribble of the ooze running down her obsidian lips. The fever prickled beneath her tousled fur, which had been cleaned up the best it could by the badger himself, but not quite at its full beauty. Lae wasn’t a special or unique wolf, but her coat had a certain grace to it, as was her lithe form. Alas, this ooze, as well as her other ailment, had dampened her appearance. Laeta’s eyes glanced up weakly as Syanna introduced herself, and she tried her best to offer a greeting of her own in return. "Hello, Syanna," She murmured, her gaze having fallen back into a glazed, downcast look. Clearly something else was the matter, and as the healer pulled out her supplies and offered a few cloths in her front paws, the room seem to fall into a air of..sadness? Despair? The badger looked at the cloths Syanna had offered to Lae to clean herself off - it should have been a simple action to perform, but the ruby-eyed woman appeared to struggle to even move her paws. The hurt, and frustration in her eyes said more than words. Something else was very wrong. Mel the badger stammered as he adjusted his monocle, looking a tad grim, “Oh dear..w-well there’s something else, too..” His tone was quieter, and in that instant Lae spoke in response to Syanna’s inquiry about other symptoms. "I can’t move my legs at all," She said, her voice dull and flat, as if whatever ailed her was crushing her spirit as well as her body. If there were tears pricking her eyes, nobody could tell, because all that came out was more ooze. "Mel does his best, but my joints hurt so bad. I can’t move my legs but I feel everything. It’s so painful." She wanted this to stop. The pain. The helplessness. It felt demeaning, and thought the woman never really thought much of herself, she still craved some dignity in her situation. Thus, that was hard to come by - she needed lots of care, and she felt terrible for it. "Speech"

While Syanna began to prepare the medicines she had brought, she would occasionally let her eyes drift back to the broken form in front of her. She'd been trained and self-taught in the field of medicine, sure, but she'd never before had to implement her studies so frequently or rigorously as she had since she'd come to the Hallows. It was as if everything that could ever go wrong to a wolf happened here. At least they were well prepared to handle it—or as well prepared as they could be in the face of the apocalypse, she supposed. She gave Laeta a friendly smile when the sickly wolf greeted her. Her bedside manner was something she had been working hard on, trying to make her patients feel comfortable and safe despite what was going on in the world around them.

When Laeta made no effort to pick up the cloths and clean herself up, that was when Syanna noticed the look of bitter frustration and pain in the other woman's eyes. She turned her concerned gaze to her patient and was about to ask if she was all right when the badger started to speak again. There was something else happening with Laeta. The ailing wolf explained how she couldn't move her legs at all, that all she could feel was pain. That alarmed Syanna more than the brightly glowing ooze dripping from her face did. "Mel, was it?" she shifted her eyes to the badger, handing him some of the cloths. "Could you help me clean Laeta up?" Syanna grabbed a swatch of cloth and proceeded to gently wipe away some of the ooze around Laeta's eyes and mouth, setting the dirty cloths aside when she finished with each.

While Mel did his work cleaning up her patient, Syanna slid off the bed to light a candle in one of the sconces, filling the room with a faint, warm orange light. Now that she could see better, Syanna moved over to add a fresh log to the dying fire, stoking it until it had roared back to life. Now illuminated better and Syanna could see Laeta easier, she returned to the bed, sorting through the vials and bottles she'd brought. She lifted a small vial containing a pale green liquid and popped the stopper from the end. "Boneset and juniper, for the fever and the muscle pains," she explained, then carefully brought the bottle to Laeta's lips. If she complied, Syanna helped pour the contents into the other woman's mouth for her to swallow. She put the now empty bottle away, then pulled a sprig of fresh elderberries from her satchel and handed them to Melis. "Make sure she eats five of these with every meal. They'll help strengthen her immune system to fight off the fever and other infections. Keep a bowl nearby so she can spit out as much of that gunk as she can."

With the treatments applied to the easier symptoms, Syanna now turned her attention to the major issue: Laeta's paralysis. The younger wolf's lips pursed into a fine line while she looked over the seemingly whole and fit wolf, her mind already working to try and figure out what was happening to her. Was this a byproduct of the ooze? Were all of the wolves in the Hallows about to become paralyzed? "I'm going to need to do a full physical to try and find out what's happening with your legs. Would it be okay for me to touch you, Lae?" She waited for Laeta to give her consent before she proceeded. Having come from a background of physical and sexual assault herself, Syanna knew how unwanted touches could trigger reactions. She'd proceed only when Laeta had given her permission to examine her.

"Syanna Alluráin"

As her mate, Ezra may enter her threads not marked as Private.
____________________

As the woman began her examination visually, Laeta could do little except offer back the slightest glimmer in her eyes in response to the physician's kindness. The last thing she wished to be to anyone, particularly at this time, was a burden. The ooze was already weakening the wolves, quite rapidly as well. Lae's paralysis only further complicated things, and the shame and embarrassment she continuously felt rolled in her gut uncomfortably. The joints in her hips throbbed, along with her spine and knees. They felt burning, fiery hot, as well as the fever that raged beneath her obsidian pelt. Still, this woman had the aura of a calm, collected, and experienced individual, and as such, both Laeta and Mel took comfort in knowing Syanna would do everything in her power to try and help in this horrific situation. "Mel, was it?" The woman inquired. "Y-Yes? Oh dear, is it worse than you believed?" If she had shown any alarm in her expression upon seeing Laeta's inability to hold and use the cloths, the badger would react promptly, nervously taking the cloths in his clawed paws as she had offered them to him. "Could you help me clean Laeta up?" She added, to which the badger nodded, adjusting his monocle. "Of course, lady Bowen," He said, proceeding to wipe away the accumulating fluid from the woman's sunken features. She laid there, resigned. Mostly, she looked empty and hallowed due to defeat, but perhaps it was also her lack of appetite, too. Being paralyzed, unable to move or care for oneself brought her down to dark places. As such, she didn't really feel much hunger or thirst. Only guilt, anger, shame, and the pain that flickered in her bones. Syanna had lit the room with a candle, as well as making use of the fireplace, allowing a new flame to shine brightly. The vibrant orange was a welcome change to the now sickening shades of glowing blue outside, and it also kept the darkness at bay. The darkness frightened the woman deeply, but she as never able to react to it fully in her state. Mostly, she laid there as oozy tears flowed down her cheeks. As Syanna popped open a green vial, she mentioned its contents - "Boneset and juniper, for the fever and the muscle pains" - and brought it to Laeta's lips. The paralyzed woman took the medicine quietly, letting the welcome taste of the herbal mixture down her throat. Though not instantaneous, she'd soon find her fever wasn't as intense, and the aching would be brought down to a less excruciating level. She then handed the sprig of elderberries to Mel, who took them politely. She instructed him on how much to give her, which he repeated under his breath so as to score them in his mind. "Five berries a meal..yes, yes I see..ah, a-and a bowl? Yes, I do have one somewhere, actually-" He placed the elderberries on a small nightstand next to Lae's bed, hopping off it briefly, only to come back with a decently-sized bowl. He'd place it near the charcoal-pelted woman's head, then stepped back to allow Syanna to perform her duties. The physician's face appeared a bit puzzled, along with concern. Mel murmured to himself in a worried manner (Oh dear, oh dear..), fiddling with his forepaws as he crouched on the bed and watched. "I'm going to need to do a full physical to try and find out what's happening with your legs. Would it be okay for me to touch you, Lae?" The orange and white woman inquired, to which Laeta could only glance up at her and offer a soft, but clear nod. She was tired, but appreciated that she asked her before proceeding. Touch was still finicky for her due to her lack of proper interactions in her loner life, but in her state, she needed answers. So did Mel. She'd allow Syanna to do all that was necessary. "Speech"

Laeta offered her no resistance and responded with a wordless nod when she asked for permission to perform a physical on her. With consent given, Syanna moved closer so she could maneuver around the other fae's body. "If at any point anything I do becomes painful, let me know." With her simple instruction given, Syanna began. She started at the woman's forelegs, checking her joints at her paw and knee for any signs of onset arthritis, but found nothing. The joints were flexible and supple. Frowning, Syanna checked each leg for bone fractures or splits, but again found nothing. A check around Laeta's hind legs revealed the same. Physically, there should have been no reason the wolf was unable to move her legs.

Pausing to think for a moment, Syanna began to work through what else could cause paralysis like this. It could be something in her nerves or some sort of neurological damage, but then she wouldn't be able to feel anything, and she was still able to feel pain. Moving around behind Laeta, Syanna placed her paws on the other woman's hips, checking their alignment, then finding the end of her spine and moving slowly up along her back. She felt with tender probing paws for each column in the wolf's vertebrae. Nothing felt out of place or abnormal. Frowning just out of view of Lae, Syanna tried to not let the frustration get the best of her, but she was disheartened by her lack of finding an answer for them both.

Then, as her paws moved up Laeta's spine to the base of her neck, Syanna felt something shift unnaturally beneath her touch. Her ears flicked up and eyes widened in surprise. Very, very delicately, she pressed the pads of her paws along the side of Laeta's neck again, feeling each vertebrae in her spinal column. Near the base of her skull, Syanna felt the bones shift and wiggle where they should have been solid. Grim realization dawned on the physician's face. Laeta had suffered a neck injury that had broken her neck. The wolf had survived, but she'd become a quadriplegic in the process. Syanna's heart sank into her stomach, paws carefully retreating from her neck while she slid off of the bed to come sit before her patient.

"I found the reason why you can't move your legs, Laeta..." Syanna looked over to Mel with a sad expression, then turned an apologetic look to Laeta. "You have a severe injury in your neck. Two of the bones of your spine have been broken, pushing them out of place. It's... honestly a miracle you survived. But I'm afraid there's no way to fix it, and it won't heal on its own." Syanna took a deep breath, swallowing back the lump in her throat. "I'm so sorry, Laeta, but you'll never walk again. Your legs will be paralyzed for the rest of your life." Lifting a delicate paw, Syanna rested it across one of Laeta's paws. She didn't know what else to say, but her heart broke for Laeta. She wished she could have given her good news, given her some hope to hold onto, done something to make her better. But sometimes some injuries were too severe, and there was no cure.

Sometimes life was just cruel...

"Syanna Alluráin"

As her mate, Ezra may enter her threads not marked as Private.
____________________

The woman tried not to flinch too much in pain as Syanna proceeded with her examination, gently feeling her limbs and body from the toes up. Her joints ached, though less severely. It made the process a bit more bearable. Mel stayed close by, watching the physician with his own brow knitted with concern. She felt her legs, and when she didn't seem to find anything there, she probed her hips and then her back. Though sore, nothing seemed remarkable, and nothing this far appeared to explain the woman's ailment. Lae stared blankly, feeling this atmosphere grow heavy. Something was definitely wrong - she has nothing broken in her legs, nor was it her joints. What else could it be? The crackling of the fire did little to settle the silence as the physician soon began palpating the paralyzed woman's neck. Laeta cringed as Syanna felt the bones in her neck, and a strange sensation overcame her. Her..bones..were loose? It certainly wasn't a good feeling, and something within her knew that something was very, very wrong. Far beyond what she and Mel initially tried to assume. Ruby eyes flickered up to the wolf above her, and the grim expression upon the physician's face was more than telling. Mel looked downcast, a soft sigh emanating from his lips as he tried his best not to alarm the woman. He assumed she had no clue, but the monochromatic woman had an intuition as sharp as a blade. It wasn't good news. This was further confirmed when the wolf slide down the bed to sit next to the paralyzed woman, looking at Mel sadly, then facing her. "I found the reason why you can't move your legs, Laeta..." Lae watched the subtleties within the other woman's facial features for any glimmer of hope, but to no avail. Her own heart sank in her chest as Syanna said, "You have a severe injury in your neck. Two of the bones of your spine have been broken, pushing them out of place. It's... honestly a miracle you survived. But I'm afraid there's no way to fix it, and it won't heal on its own." Mel uttered a soft whimper, but Lae remained silent. Inside, though, she felt resigned. Whatever miniscule fragment of hope within her, the one she held onto so tightly despite all that had happened to her, shattered into a million pieces. If Syanna glanced into her eyes in that moment, whatever faint whisper of optimism she had would fade away, like a candle flickering out. Her expression was blank, her gaze falling to the floor. It was as if she felt too ashamed to look the physician in the eye in that moment. The next words pummeled her like a cascade of rocks, but whatever damage was done before just merely piled on top, and she could do little but just take in the words with nothing written upon her features. Nothing at all. ""I'm so sorry, Laeta, but you'll never walk again. Your legs will be paralyzed for the rest of your life." Mel rushed over to Lae as Syanne offered a comforting paw. The badger could only stammer out a few words, "Oh..oh dear..lady Laeta..I am deeply, deeply sorry.." His own brown eyes welled with tears. Who knew their friendship was so strong, despite having only met a few day prior? The words escaped the woman, though, who was grateful she could at least feel the warmth of her fellow pack member's paws on her own in comfort. Still, Lae couldn't feel to bad for herself. This was her fault, even if she was disorientated by the ooze at that time. The firefly man gave her what she deserved. With a deeply resigned sigh, the woman seemed ready to bury herself within this fate, knowing she would definitely be nothing but an extra weight on the pack, an extra mouth to feed. So much for her wanting a purpose in life. That's all she ever wanted..purpose. A reason to keep living. And even that she could no longer hold on to. Her eyes flickered back to her friend and the physician, her eyes welling up themselves. not even real damn tears, just the bioluminescent fluid. "It's my fault this happened to me," She croaked. Mel began to reassure her with panicked stutters of "L-Lady Laeta! you mustn't blame yourself-" But she simply shook her head the best she could in her position upon her side. "No, Mel. It was my fault. Plain and simple." Lae wasn't really a believer in superstition or anything, but karma was real. What goes around, comes around. Her actions brought her here. Even if the ooze could be to blame for her erratic mindset at that time. Life was cruel, indeed. "Speech"