Hanako whimpered softly as she was splayed out atop Mortis' back, his wings furled in close to make sure she wasn't jostled or moved about too much as he carried her. Her list of injuries was long and winding, the majority of her tail was only hanging on with frayed nerves and sinew, the soft pink of her face was a purplish brown with bruises and even one of her front incisors was chipped, half broken. It was hard to say what happened, when Mortis had asked all he'd gotten was a muffled: I don't know. She just wanted to sleep, it didn't even have to be anywhere warm or comfortable, she just wanted rest. Peace.

Was that asking for too much? Maybe. It was hard to say, hard to even breathe as the cold air bit at her lungs. She felt Mortis come to a stop, his gait steadying as big trees surrounded them from all sides. Oh. This place, Hanako thought, her gaze glassy. Home.

There was no way for Halo to know that things were this bad. An urgent call had been made, yes. Urgent, but this was dire. She'd grabbed her tidy roll of important healer things, the kit that rested beside her door, and rushed off to see her patient but... but well, she wasn't expecting this. Hanako was crumpled, in overall rough shape. Halo's gentle eyes went wide, taking stock of the situation. "Hanako, can you tell me what happened?" Her words were soft, steps feather-light as she circled her patient. It would be important to keep her awake and answering questions, and Halo needed to know if there was further damage that she couldn't see.

Was she took weak for opium? From the looks of it, she was. Halo drew a tincture made from cannabis and a very, very minute amount of poppy from her bag. "I need you to drink this, it's going to help dull the pain," it would help dull it without completely depressing the nervous system. Dull the pain but not cure it, dull the pain but not take any unnecessary risks with Hanako's fragile consciousness. She poured a bit of the tincture into a shallow dish, mixing in some clean water before offering it to the her patient. "I need you to stay awake, please," while it's phrased as a gentle request, it's truly an order. As close as Halo ever comes to giving orders.

Her focus moves to the severely damaged tail, and Halo is grateful that the woman before her can't see just how grim her expression is. "I'm going to need to put some stitches in your tail, but we're going to wait for the pain medicine to take effect." Some stitches, well that was the understatement of the year, but there was a fine line between being honest and giving news that would likely be traumatic. To her side, Mister Raccoon was preparing the materials for suturing, seemingly well aware of the undertaking at hand.
"Halo"

Hanako made a soft, almost whimpering sound of acknowledgement. She knew what had happened, in the same way a baby learned to shrink away from a limb that intended to strike them. Instinctual yet somehow learned, known but not something to speak aloud. Her eyes were hooded, having lost the sheen in them that had once lured in so many wolves. They were like cold ice now, lifeless like a dead fish. Was she in shock? Oh certainly, and the pain had a way of making everything seem all muddled and wrong. Like it would be a mercy to just have it all fade away, like it was all a bad dream. And yet the wolf who was before her spoke so gently, so kind, so different from what she had known.

She shifted a little at the request to drink this, whatever this was. Her tongue felt heavy, too flappy when she tried to lap it up. Uncoordinated, like floppy, melting string cheese. But she tried and felt some taste upon her tongue, not sweet like the teas Azure had his slave give her, ones she quite liked the taste of. But it was hard for her to stir up any emotion other than exhaustion, a withering sense of defeat that dripped from her like blood.   

Halo's expression was unusually grim as she worked away. Hanako was struggling to stay awake, and the healer wasn't going to let her slip into sleep. There was no telling if she had a concussion, and falling asleep with any degree of damage to the brain could have dire consequences. As gently as she could, the girl began to tend to Hanako's wounded tail. Her apology was soft, and really the only warning she gave for what was about to come. "I'm sorry, this is going to feel pretty bad," but it was necessary. As carefully as Halo could, she began to flush the large, angry wound. Freeing it of debris, trying to rinse them all away, and clearing away any fur that had stuck to the area as well.

It was a sight. It was a sight in the worst way. Halo gently dabbed at the area with an alcohol soaked rag, a low hiss from between her own teeth. She could only imagine the sting of the frayed nerves, and just how badly it must have all felt. "I'm sorry Hanako," the words were soft, as much comfort as she could offer. From the woman's tail, Halo worked her way forward, cleaning out each cut and scrape. Halo needed to get her stable, needed to figure out which wounds were the most dangerous, and prevent infection. Though the tail seemed to be the worst of it, she didn't want to miss anything that may need the same degree of attention.

"I need you to tell me what did this to you," if it had been coyotes, there would be a risk of infection. If it had been another wolf? Well, there was the possibility that they were all in danger. With every predator, there was a dozen things on the list of possible complications. In order to treat her and know what else to look out for, Halo needed an answer. She moved to the woman's damaged tail, trying to take stock of the injury itself. Though Halo was pretty sure she could re-attach it, there was the question of the woman's shocked system. Would she be able to heal from it? "I'm going to put some pressure on it to help stop the bleeding," she explained as she worked, doing her best to prepare her patient for the impending pain.

"Halo"

The pain was searing, ragged and ruinous as it flickered through her nerves. Like she was being set afire. She moaned softly, barely able to even keep her eyes open, barely able to even stand it all. She tasted blood, shame and a guilt she couldn't quite place. Like this had been her fault, somehow. She felt Halo's touch and shrunk away from it, instinctively pairing the pain with the healers work. She found herself missing Sedna, she would have known what to do long ago, before any of this had gotten this bad. Except Hanako couldn't quite put her paw on what this was, where it had all in fact gone wrong, what was the wrongess she was lingering on. Stuck in, like a mire.

She shrugged limply. Too tired to struggle or do anything else really, more red on her coat than white at this point.

Mortis didn’t know what to do. He was no healer, and he could tell there was something seriously wrong going on in Hanako’s head. She was silent and dull as Halo went through the procedure of seeing to her wounds. After placing her down where Halo could access her, the winged boy had begun to pace. There was nothing else he could do, and the waiting was torture. “Speak to us, Hana” He whispered, his pacing returning her close to her head. “What happened?” He didn’t expect her to tell him now, when she had only told him she did not know so far. But how could she not? Was it so terrible that she couldn’t speak of it? He and Hanako had been estranged for so long now, but seeing her lying there. He could only think of the girl who had played with him in the Armada grasses.

She was weak, but she was breathing. It was all they could do to keep her awake and holding on. As she worked, Halo became acutely aware of Mortis's pacing. "Here, come hold this. Apply pressure," for once, Halo's tone is commanding. Still soft, still Halo, but she's a force of nature. Halo wasn't going to lose Hana, not here. Not now. With the largest and most concerning wound under supervision, Halo was able to begin suturing the others shut. Any tearing of the skin would be fitted back into place as gently as possible. Topical pain relief would hopefully couple well enough with what was in the pale koi's system. "I'm sorry Hana," another apology, as Halo gradually got the bleeding under control.

She couldn't tell you how much time had passed by the time Halo returned to the tail. Beneath the dressing, the healer found only a grim reality. "Mort... I need you to take that shallow clay dish and fill it with hot coals, please." The best chance to save Hanako would be to remove her tail entirely. All she could do now was focus, carefully laying out the sharpest knife from her emergency bag. Crafted for this purpose and this purpose alone, at least it would be an efficient tool. "Hana, I need you to take more of this, please." Enough to sedate her. Enough to prevent her from feeling what would come next.

"Halo"